Breathe finalists seek to take on stalled village

The runners up in a competition to develop a $30 million urban village in Christchurch’s central city have offered to take on the stalled project.

Construction of the Breathe residential development was due to start in April, but the developers have not yet applied for building consents and last week Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee blamed the chosen developers for lack of progress.

He said he was disappointed the people behind the eco-friendly, timberclad village project did not deliver what they promised and claimed it would struggle to get off the ground.

The site – almost 1 hectare of land opposite Latimer Sq and once home to Charlie’s Backpackers — remains bare and the Government has refused to give news of the project for months.

Italian company Anselmi Attiani Associated Architects and local developer Ian Smart won the international competition Breathe in 2013.

Now two of the four finalists in the competition have offered to make the project happen.

Walker Architecture & Design and Ceres Environmental said they had the funding and the capacity to complete their design within two years. Architect Roger Walker said his group offered last year to proceed with its scheme, which was a finalist in the 2013 competition.

Walker approached the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) last year to make the offer when he saw the deadline for the project to start had expired with no visible sign of progress.

Cera rejected the offer and said they had extended the deadline.

Brownlee’s recent comments suggesting the project might not go ahead were ‘‘extremely disappointing’’, Walker said.

Nearly 130 designers incurred ‘‘considerable financial expense’’ to take part in the competition and the four finalists spent further time and money on the project, he said.

Another competition finalist, Jane Quigley from The Viva Project, voiced disappointment following the Minister’s comments. ‘‘We had detailed plans, based on extensive community consultation, and 80 parties wanting to buy or purchase in the village.’’

She said ‘‘clear expectations’’ were conveyed to the finalists that construction should begin within months of the award.

Viva was pursuing other land options and remained ready and willing to build.

The development is an anchor project and features on the recovery blueprint.

Cera refused to answer questions on the project. ‘‘We are not going to discuss the detail of commercial discussions currently under way,’’ a spokesman said.

Cera was working towards reaching final arrangements with the competition winner. ‘‘Cera is focused on getting the best result for the taxpayer’s investment in land purchases, and for the recovery.’’

Cera purchased the land for the village for $5.1 million.

The developer was responsible for financing and conducting due diligence on the project, Cera said.