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Palmerston North City Council Housing Project

Palmerston North City Council Housing Project

  • 6 years ago
  • 2 min read
  • By Default Admin

At Latitude Homes we are proud to be the chosen contractors for Palmerston North City Councils $7.3 million social housing development at Papaioea Place with funding from NZ On Air. This development is the first social housing development undertaken by the council in more than 30 years!

The land initially had thirty-two old units that have now been bulldozed to make room for fifty new units. It worked out more cost effective to start from scratch than trying to upgrade the old units that weren't of a healthy living standard. Stripping back the land and starting fresh allowed the area to be redesigned to accommodate 50 units instead. 

"And they were on quite big sections. Now we've compacted them, the design of them means when they come out of their front door you can't help but notice the other neighbours."

The fifty units are a future-proof design to help enhance residents' quality of living. All units are double-glazed and well-insulated, meaning power bills will be more manageable for the residents. They also have the 4-star Lifemark certification. This means the units are equipped to meet residents' lifetime mobility and agility needs. 

STAGE ONE

The first stage consists of building thirty modern, eco-friendly units with disabled access facilities and modern open plan designs.  The units are all clad in James Hardie Axon panel. The existing residents will then move into these new units. By building in stages it means that not all the future/current residents are displaced, making the transition smoother.

Baty, a resident of the new development, said the new designs would be putting the 'social' back into 'social housing' after older properties ended up being the opposite.

"Because they were so old, not comfortable, cold - people kind of shut themselves away," said Baty.

OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY

These initial 30 new units were officially opened during a ceremony on Monday, 4 March. Below is Graham Wellington & Marc Hunter with Grant Smith, Palmerston North's Mayor who attended the opening. 

STAGE TWO

Now that the first 30 units are built and occupied with residents, we began work on the remaining 20 units. The remaining 20 were completed on Friday 28 February 2020. Bringing the total amount of units built to 50.

With part two of stage two of this council project starting in March 2020 that will see a further 28 units built.