Waikato Business News August/September 2020

LAKEWOOD CAMBRIDGE
Lakewood
makes its mark
Lakewood helps connect Cambridge to Te Kā Utu lake.
The final block of a transformational development in central
Cambridge is complete and taking on tenants at the end of a
four-year project.
The ambitious mixed-use
Lakewood, coming in
at a combined cost of
about $50 million, is within
a few minutes’ walk of the
town centre and overlooks
Lake Te Kō Utu.
The former site of a railway
yard is unrecognisable
as the development brings a
long-neglected area of town
to life, with the final commercial
building “Block E”
completed in July.
Lakewood’s five blocks
feature apartments, a variety
of retail, hospitality and
office space and a hotel, while
the three-hectare site also
has a large childcare centre,
and future townhouses
are in the pipeline.
The final block of the
five, with space for up to 12
commercial tenants, already
has its Code of Completion
Certificate with four
tenants currently moving
in and one purchaser in the
process of fitting out.
Project manager Ben
Jones, from Greenstone
Group, is pleased local Cambridge
businesses are among
those moving into Block E,
seeing it as a strong thumbs up
from local firms who like what
they have seen as the development
has progressively taken
shape. “We’ve had a few
local businesses who obviously
have been impressed
with what’s been going up and
decided to join.”
Those relocating from
within Cambridge include
mortgage brokers Lime
Group and lawyers Ellice
Tanner Hart.
The zoning is commercial
with a character overlay,
which means a wide range of
business activities are permitted,
encompassing everything
from medical to office, along
with retail and wholesale.
“By nature, these large
developments require you to
plan for multiple uses at the
design stage because you can
never guarantee exactly which
tenant or type of business will
be knocking on your door to
take the space. So you try to
build in as much flexibility as
you can and future proof the
buildings,” Jones says.
One arm of the L-shaped
building is single storey, and
the other arm has two storeys.
Continued on page 28
PROUDLY
TRANSFORMING
PROPERTY IDEAS
INTO REALITY
PROUDLY PROVIDING DEVELOPMENT AND PROJECT
MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR LAKEWOOD CAMBRIDGE
greenstonegroup.co.nz