Development in the city centre. Will incentives help us reach new heights?

We want to talk with you about some other ideas that won’t be included in this LTP, but depending on your feedback, may be explored further and proposed in the future

The issue

We’re exploring an option to attract more development in our city. Council is investing significantly in the heart of our city in the coming years, and to optimise the benefits of this investment requires more people living and working there.

We know that a stronger city centre with more people calling it home will improve the performance of Tauranga’s transport network, resulting in less congestion, delay and carbon emissions.

What we’re proposing

Similar to what other growth cities such as Hamilton have implemented, we’re wanting to provide incentives to attract more public and private investment in new development in our city centre.

The choices

We have some initial thoughts on a framework for incentivising more development and we’d like to know what you think.

Full or partial grants to offset development contributions
Which land uses the grants would apply to (residential and/or non-residential)
The scale of development the grants would apply to (e.g. only to buildings of at least six storeys, or perhaps to the component of a development above six storeys only)
The area in which grants are applied (e.g. just to the core of the city centre, or to a larger area)
The timeframe for construction of developments (with development commencing sooner likely to have priority)
Any limits or caps on the amount of development contribution grants that could be applied, to ensure affordability for ratepayers.
Requirement for a demonstrable benefit from the development to City Centre strategic objectives, and sufficient evidence that the grant would significantly impact the financial feasibility of the development.