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The Christchurch Kiwi Holiday Park in Bromley has closed and 25 new homes will be built on the site.
One urban Christchurch campsite was sold and part of another also changed hands to make way for new homes.
Auckland real estate developer Anyos Gonczy has spent around $ 3 million to purchase the Christchurch Kiwi Holiday Park in Bromley and part of the 219 at Johns Holiday Park on Johns Rd near Northwood, in addition to an adjacent site.
It has also purchased “more than a dozen” individual sites in the city for housing development.
The 8,000-square-foot Bromley site near the corner of Linwood Ave and Dyers Rd has now been closed.
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Gonczy’s 5,400-square-foot site on Johns Rd includes motel units, cabins, and a backpackers block. The rest of the camping area will reopen in April with a new name and a new management with sites for tents and caravans.
Unlike many New Zealand campgrounds administered on Department of Conservation Council lands, both holiday parks were privately owned on freehold sites.
Gonczy’s company, Inspire Residential, has existing developments in Whanganui and Southland, building detached and semi-detached houses.
The Christchurch purchases come as subdivision developers in the city report strong section sales, due to high demand for existing homes.
Gonczy said his plans for Christchurch were to build and sell houses and rent others. He said he was attracted by the city’s real estate prices.
“From a property value perspective, I feel like it’s been undervalued for a long time. The figures that come to light suggest that this is the case for a city that has the second largest population in New Zealand after Auckland. “
It will seek resource consent to build up to 25 new homes on the Bromley site and maintain the playground, pool and utility block “for the enjoyment of the residents.” The units on Johns Rd will be rented as permanent housing.
Fergus Brown, executive director of the Vacation Parks Association, said it was a shame to see suburban vacation parks closed or downsized, but it was a case of land use change over time.
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Such camps were important because they provided inexpensive vacations for families and ideal off-season accommodation for traveling school groups and sports teams, he said.
Brown said a minority of the vacation parks were on freehold land and could be rebuilt, as opposed to the majority of those on land reserved for reserve use.
Most of the vacation parks were very busy catering to the locals this summer, but Covid-19 had taken its toll, as had free camps and Airbnb-like operations, he said. In a typical year, holiday parks had between 8.6 million and 8.7 million nights of guests, and two-thirds of holiday park visitors were New Zealanders, he said.
“Especially since Covid arrived, much of the cream has been removed from [holiday park] companies and their profitability may be in doubt. These areas are quite subdivisible and there is demand for residential land. “
He said camps accounted for 20 percent of New Zealand’s commercial bed nights, and cheaper accommodation often left tourists with more money to spend on local activities.
Their contribution to local economies meant that city councils could consider setting aside land for urban holiday parks, which could be privately run or as a public-private venture, Brown said.
The city still has a small handful of suburban camps, in addition to more remote ones in rural and beach areas.
Campground broker John O’Brien, director of Holiday Park Brokers NZ, said most of the holiday parks sold went to other operators.
O’Brien said it was a 24-hour job for understaffed “mom and dad” operators, and high land prices in urban areas could make selling to a property developer attractive.
