Newspaper Article 1993 – $2m shop development for Pacific Hotel site

$2m shop development for pacific Hotel site

By Mike Tod
Staff reporter, Hastings

A $2-million redevelopment of the Pacific Hotel site in Hastings featuring seven shops was unveiled today.

Mackersey Construction has bought the hotel and its surrounding land and plans to complete the retail centre, which will have two shops fronting Heretaunga St and five along Market St, by April.

The hotel will be demolished by the end of the month.

The former bottle store on the site will be incorporated into the development to form one shop.

Managing director David Mackersey said today there had been strong demand from national and Hawke’s Bay businesses for space in the centre.

Development consultant Roger Stone said there had been a lot of interest in central Hastings retail space and it was expected the shops would be let readily.

Mr Mackersey considered the site one of the prime real estate locations in central Hastings. There had been little major redevelopment in the central business district recently and he thought the project would help improve the area.

The retail centre has been designed by David Ironside of Works Consultancy and will be similar to Spanish Mission in style.

Mr Mackersey said there was nothing of historical value in the hotel that was worth salvaging during the demolition. “There is not even old photographs.”

The chairman of the Hastings District Council’s CityProm committee, Terry Coxon, said the new retail centre would be a positive step for Hastings.

“I understand there are some key tenants who want to occupy the key frontages and that’s only good. The days of hotels in the main street are well and truly gone,” Mr Coxon said.

CityProm is charged with promoting central Hastings. Mr Coxon said Mackersey Construction had investigated ways of redeveloping the hotel but it was not practical.

It was unfortunate the hotel had to be demolished, he said.

The Mackersey project is not the only one planned for the city centre. It was announced that national women’s clothing chain Paull’s would redevelop the former ANZ bank building in Market St and open a shop before Christmas.

The cost of converting the building into a retail shop is understood to be at least $100,000.

Photo caption – An artist’s impression of the shop development