New precinct to boost heart of the city

When Justin Candish looked at plans to demolish the Morrison Square complex in the heart of Nelson “all I could see was six months of traffic management, a year’s worth of demolition and a gravel carpark at the end of it”.

It was not the vision the managing director of Scott Construction had for a central city that desperately needed rejuvenation.

Now Candish and business partners Craig Dennis and Jason Everett have a plan for the site they bought from ACC in August as a “cornerstone destination to help take Nelson city into the future”.

The proposal, unveiled at the Uniquely Nelson annual general meeting on Thursday night, involves a two-year redevelopment of the former Morrison Square site into a mix of hospitality, retail, offices and potentially a 42-room boutique hotel if its feasibility stacks up.

At the heart of the precinct, to be renamed Morrison, will be a pedestrian-only square that could host community and school events, music and art. The former Columbus Coffee building in the middle of the square will be demolished, and carparks removed for the square.

“The heart of Morrison will become a community stage and a place to gather. The idea is to have that space activated most of the time,” Candish said.

Other proposed concepts are a Morrison Eats area in the former Just Jeans and Sunglass Hut area of the square, featuring up to eight individual eateries and potentially a rooftop bar and dining area. That will be the first area to be redeveloped, with a target opening of August next year.

The heritage building that housed the former Morrison Cafe, fronting Hardy St, will be home to Marty’s Meats Smash Burgers from December. A bakery is planned for the building behind the cafe.

Candish said they had taken inspiration from Christchurch’s successful Little High and Riverside precincts for the proposed dining area that would focus on small, “cool eateries” rather than big chains.

The building along the Selwyn Place side of the square will get a new facade, replacing the current large pink wall. It will house ground-floor retail and offices. A pedestrian laneway will be created to better link the precinct to the cathedral grounds.

On the eastern side, the plan is to remove the existing buildings and build a four-storey, 42-room boutique hotel that Candish said would be a different offering in the city.

Candish said the emphasis was on “adaptive reuse” of most of the existing buildings, which will have their faulty cladding removed.

The cladding issues led to ACC shutting the site last year because of health and safety risks. The square’s 22 mostly retail tenants had to move out, and the complex was earmarked for demolition before Candish stepped in.

He reiterated that the buildings were structurally sound and not earthquake-prone.

The company had looked at including apartments but preferred the precinct to be a visitor destination, a place for families to enjoy, or just to hang out and have lunch. It would also bring around 300 workers in its office spaces.

“This was an opportunity to help reinvigorate the city,” Candish said. “We want to give people another reason to come into town. We’re hoping that it will generate other things in a spill effect around the city.

“Why can’t we reinvent ourselves and be an activated, cool city?”

The redevelopment plans will have to go through a consents process, but the company is optimistic it can be completed in two years.

Uniquely Nelson manager Simon Duffy said the “bold and visionary” development would not only be great for the businesses in the immediate area, but for the whole city.

“People will have another reason to come to the heart of the city – to experience even more wonderful cuisine options from around the world, boutique shopping or just hanging out in the community space,” he said. “As the precinct has developed over time, I always felt that the development team has this vision of creating something for the community, the central square will achieve this.

“Long summer nights listening to locals perform music, plays, dance, orchestras by candlelight, it’s a space for so much creativeness.”