Seaview Residential Development

A unique, multi-stage development just 450m from the beach in New Brighton, Seaview has been designed by two different architects and is being built in stages for a diverse range of designs.

The original site was home to the old New Brighton Primary School on Seaview Road, which was severely affected by the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. The school was rebuilt elsewhere and DGM Group secured the site for residential development.

Baseline Group worked alongside DGM Group on the initial planning phases as the state of the titles and services to the site were outdated and complex.

Challenge

There were several challenges involved in this project that our team at Baseline Group was able to assist with.

The first challenge was the current title situation of the land. Having previously been Crown land for many years, various titles had been added on over time for different reasons and the records were complicated and, in some cases, outdated or incomplete. Without proper planning, this could present issues later on with installing services, getting titles assigned, etc.

Another complex aspect of this project was the staging required by the client. The first two stages were locked in, but all subsequent stages were designed to be adaptable, based on the demand for the first two stages. This is, of course, easier than it sounds, and gaining the necessary consents for a
staged approach without fixed plans for later stages is difficult, to say the least.

The final challenge was negotiating the details of a public walkway that will run through the private development.

Solution

Thankfully, DGM Group involved us from the very beginning of this project and our team was able to tackle these challenges and set up the development for success from the start.

We carried out a topographical survey to capture all the existing site features and constraints, followed by a legal definition survey to ensure the extent of the property was clearly defined and fully updated. This also involved applying for new, consolidated titles for the land to simplify the upcoming consent process.

One of our experienced planners was able to manoeuvre the appropriate consents for the staged project, ensuring stages one and two could be fully completed while allowing for some future flexibility in all subsequent stages.

The Baseline Group team was also able to advise on retaining private ownership of a public walkway through the development and how it could interact with existing utilities as part of an ongoing agreement with the Christchurch City Council.

Being a part of this development and working with the rejuvenation of land affected by the earthquakes has been an exciting time for our team and we look forward to continuing to be a part of the renewal of the New Brighton neighbourhood.

“I’ve worked with Baseline Group for many years and their expertise and service bring considerable value to my projects. They act promptly at each step and react immediately if issues arise. They are very easy to work with and are always happy to explain the technical details of their work. All this usually leads to early completion of survey and engineering work, as well as early issue of titles for subdivisions, which gives us a bit of an edge in a competitive market.”