The scaffolding is coming down, the show home signs are going up and so are some ‘Sold’ stickers as early adopters make their move. Cityscape dishes the deets on what’s going up downtown as Christchurch’s inner city becomes home to some very hip addresses.

The council wants it, the developers want it, and the many central-city hospo and entertainment businesses are pretty keen. And now the home buyers of Christchurch are coming to the party as well. Little by little, the many and increasing opportunities available for inner-city living, from luxury apartments to more modest developments, are turning the tide. And having all the delights of the CBD within strolling distance is a big part of that – people are being won over by being able to step out their front door into a city popping with hip eateries, fresh entertainment offerings, green spaces and unexpected urban delights.

Research also shows living in medium-density developments in the city is healthier than living in the suburbs. A study by Oxford University and the University of Hong Kong showed that in 22 British cities, people living in built-up residential areas had lower levels of obesity and exercised more than residents in scattered, suburban homes. The report’s authors said walking made the biggest difference, and social interaction and physical activity thrived best in compact communities.

The early adopters are very happy with their decision. Sean and Stuart chose to buy an apartment in the Atlas Quarter, tucked in behind Welles Street, because “it was just a really great spot and appealed to us”. Of course, having spent time living in an apartment in Melbourne, they knew all about the advantages of having a cool city on their doorstep, so an apartment was always going to win out over a house in the suburbs. The same central-city lifestyle won over Rob and Lucienne, another couple to make the Atlas Quarter home. “It is a lot more relaxing, it’s all done for us,” they said. “Every day we walk home, without a doubt we say to each other ‘Gosh, we love living here, we’ve made the right decision.’”

Certainly Cityscape was impressed when we took the grand tour of several developments. High-spec fittings, generous living spaces, private courtyards and lots of built-in comfort had us ready to ditch the suburban digs and move right on in. And we’re not alone. Fletcher Living’s regional manager, Russell Pyne, says the feedback from people going through the developments – each with their own price point – is that they exceed their expectations. His message? “Come and have a look.” 

International studies suggest that cities the size of Christchurch require 3 to 6 percent of their population living in the central city to support a prosperous commercial and entertainment hub. In Christchurch, this means between 11,000 and 23,000 people, based on current population estimates. As of June last year, there were 6160, about 75 percent of the pre-quake population. The Christchurch City Council’s Central City Residential Programme aims to increase that to 20,000 by 2028. So there’s a way to go yet but progress is steady. Carolyn Ingles, the council’s head of urban regeneration, urban design and heritage, told Cityscape that a successful central city would have a mix of uses – “We describe them as ‘Work, Live and Play’.” 

The offerings have grown rapidly in the last two or three years. Now, says Carolyn, there’s a range of hospitality, events and retail offerings bringing “vibrancy and life” to the central city day and night.
We can only agree. Examples of these attractions include hidden haunts tucked in to the many Melbourne-esque laneways, new city library Tūranga, eateries such as Little High with its smorgasbord of yumminess, and the City Promenade. With its riverside green spaces, walking and cycling paths, the Promenade makes finding your way around so much easier. More is to come as well: In August, Riverside Market in Cashel Mall will open the doors on a seven-day-a-week farmers’ market trading in local meat, seafood, produce, baked goods and more, with food outlets, retail stores, rooftop bars and restaurants.

Ballantynes’ planned extension will add to the resurgence of Cashel Mall’s primo retail offerings. Developer Box 112’s Welles Street project The Welder opens in October. The city's first health and wellbeing centre on such a scale will join culinary haunts such as Winnie Bagoes, Burger Burger and Supreme Supreme alongside the Yoobee Colleges and Grow Active Daycare in this increasingly hip side of town.

Fletcher Living has continued the laneways theme in its inner-city developments, using them to link up neighbourhoods and foster community. Increasing the inner-city population by about 10,000 in 10 years seems a big target but if Fletcher Living finds buyers for the up to 900 homes and apartments it is building on its One Central site, bordering Rauora Park, that’s over 2,000 people right there. Add in another couple of hundred residents in its nearly sold-out Atlas Quarter project off Welles Street and it starts to look do-able, especially when you consider that Fletchers aren’t the only kids on the building block.

Over the other side of Hagley Park, developer Grigori Koulanov, of Profico Group, is building 26 high-end townhouses on the site of the demolished Heatherlea apartments, on the corner of Deans Avenue and Ayr Street. Nearly half have sold, including some of those with million-dollar price tags. Elsewhere in the city, developers are hanging out their shingles on developments large and small, expensive
and affordable. Russell Pyne from Fletcher Living says “providing quality central-city living options” is the goal. He takes a lot of confidence from the success of the Atlas Quarter project, where sales are sitting at 75 percent, and one part of the development, The Elements, which fronts on to Welles Street, is now sold out. “The Atlas Quarter has acted as a catalyst for the area, with several new businesses opening up or in development since we started there,” he says. “It’s a great example of the appetite for living in the central city.”

Grigori Koulanov’s Hagley Mews development puts up a strong argument for having the best of both worlds – the luxury and timeless elegance found in Christchurch’s leafier suburbs coupled with the wide open spaces of Hagley Park. The inner city is only walking (or e-scootering) distance away through the Park. He is confident there is demand for his development’s level of spec. “The first sale happened when they saw us scraping ground. People are coming, looking, touching, feeling – they come to the show home and they can feel that it’s warm, they can feel the quality.”

Grigori arrived in Christchurch from Russia with his parents when he was 11. Several decades later he feels a strong commitment to the city, which is why with Hagley Mews he wanted to build something that would be an exemplar of what such a development could be. “I want to construct something that’s going to last but also it’s important for what I’m doing that people come in and say actually, this is a nice home, not just a townhouse in a development,” he says.  He is looking for land in Christchurch on which to build a development aimed at a lower price point “but I will still have those boxes that I want ticked, so it’s still quality,
it’s still warm and it’s going to last. Anything I build, even if it’s an economical project, it’s not that much more expensive to add a little bit of taste and touch to it so that it looks like a good building.”
In the meantime, his focus is firmly on Hagley Mews, Grigori’s first project of this scale. “I’ll be happy when it’s 70 to 80 percent sold, we flush all the buttons and everything works OK,” he says.

Check out the Fletcher Living article here and Hagley Mews article here

OK Cityscapers, we’ve done the legwork, now it’s your turn to check out what’s on offer in inner-city living. So get along to a show home and get ready to be impressed.