It wasn’t that long ago Tauranga was described as a sleepy “holding pen for heaven” but now the Bay of Plenty city is coming of age.
A rejuvenation of the city centre will combine inner city apartment living alongside the commercial sector and shops.
Work has already started on a new Farmer’s development which takes up a whole block of the inner city and will have scores of apartments, shops, cafes and restaurants.
Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell said recently the inner city could become Tauranga’s newest and most desirable suburb - and real estate agents OneRoof spoke to agree.
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Simon Anderson from Bayleys says the city is on the cusp of something really special.
“I think we will get there with some smart moves over the next five or ten years.”
The central area of Tauranga had fallen behind and even with the Farmers development, and Waikato University’s new campus in the heart of the city centre, the waterfront itself still needed an injection “of something” to bring it back to life.
“Now, obviously the announcement of the Farmers development and the 120 apartments there has given a lot of hope that will bring numbers back into the CBD but I think it’s going to need more than that.”
Work is underway on a $100m plus development on the Farmers' site, including apartments and offices, that will transform downtown Tauranga. Photo / John Borren
But the city is on its way, Anderson says, and is no longer the “holding pen for heaven”, when mainly older people used to move to Tauranga.
“You came here to retire and then finish your days, you know. Now, we’re 130,000-odd people. There’s good business here, there’s a lot of young people, the schools are bulging.”
OneRoof data certainly bears that out, with Tauranga central median values showing the highest growth in the region, up 12.2 percent on a year ago (more than double the city average, including Mount Maunganui, of 4.5 percent).
Simon Martin, of Harcourts, agrees Tauranga is growing up.
Along with the plans for inner city living, apartments are going up on the fringe of the city centre and agents have been getting solid inquiries from people wanting to move in.
“We’re getting quite a range of inquiry from people who don’t want to fight traffic any more. “They’re wanting to downsize, get rid of the land and just have a lock and leave but wanting to be close to town.”
Living in the centre will be desirable - “you can eat out, you can walk down to town, it’s a lock and leave situation.
“And, if they’re working downtown there’s a lot more employment in town, as well, with the university and stuff like that.”
Martin says the rejuvenation of the centre doesn’t just bring Tauranga up to the level of other cities - it’s better than that.
If you move to the city centre, you’re moving about five minutes drive to Mt Maunganui, he says.
“It’s quite unique in that you’ve got one of the best beaches literally five minutes drive from the major city.
“That is something that is immensely unique to our area, and it’s something you just don’t get - to have a major city right next to an incredible beach location.”
But while Auckland is adapting to new ways of living with apartments much more at the forefront, Tauranga is at the early stages of embracing this new style of living, he says.
Blair Cashmore, from Cashmore’s real estate agency, says it’s an exciting time to be in the central city which will become a desirable and sought-after place to live.
“It’s going to absolutely change the landscape, particularly if we can bring high end apartments in and possibly hotels and things like that, that we desperately need to.”
Tauranga is not there yet, he says.
“I think we’re still a few years away before we become grown-up I guess. There’s a little bit to go, but it’s definitely the start of it, there’s no doubt about that.”
