A plan for Wellington's indoor arena sits at the water's edge

The waterfront site of the irreparably damaged Wellington BNZ building was chosen as the indoor arena.

Municipal officials have long dreamed of a 12,000-seat arena designed to fill the capital's halls, a new step in the choice of the privileged site.

Mayors of the region were briefed on the proposal at a private meeting on Tuesday, but the question of whether the Quay Harbor land is available and where the money will come from, remains unclear.

The plan envisions a contiguous neighborhood of residential, commercial and retail properties, creating a new neighborhood in an underutilized part of the CBD.

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Many sites for the arena have been considered and excluded, including the current TSB Arena, Taranaki St and Petone.

The WSP Opus and Cox architecture firms, responsible for evaluating the various sites, presented five options: three sites on the Centreport grounds and two above the KiwiRail stations between the Wellington station and the Westpac Stadium.

The site, which includes part of the current building of the BNZ and the adjacent section, is considered the most feasible and favorable option for the oval-shaped arena.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester was convinced that an arena, if properly designed with basic insulators, would not suffer the same fate as the building of the BNZ and the House of Statistics.

The two victims suffered irreparable damage during the Kaikōura earthquake in 2016 and the decision to demolish the BNZ building was announced in October.

Because funds for the project are not necessarily available, Lester said, the arena would be developed in a public-private partnership similar to Spark Arena in Auckland.

"I will not name names at this time, we would use experienced developers and site operators associated with local development partners."

In its long-term plan, the board has set aside a $ 85.7 million contribution to the indoor arena plan, but beyond that, the costs are unknown.

Soil remediation will be required before the foundations can be built, and the waterfront site will need to be reinforced with improved dikes.

"We are at the stage where we want to have more serious discussions with our partners around this site," said Lester.

Wellington Regional Council Chair Chris Laidlaw said the preferred option was part of a larger plan for the wharf area that remains to be addressed.

"What we have, it's a very great opportunity to create an enclosure with some consistency.For the moment, it's a mix of vacant lots and derelict buildings."

A "master plan" including a proposed new ferry terminal incorporating the interests of Centreport, the New Zealand Transportation Agency, ferry companies as well as the Regional Council and City Council, should be completed. in the second half of 2019.

"It is only then that we can take seriously the concept of the place of an arena."

It provided for the creation of an urban development authority, which could include both councils and private entities, once the overall plan would be clear.

"From the point of view of the regional council, we do not have money in our long term plan for that … the funding issue goes to something that will have to be discussed."

A previous report on an indoor arena's strategic file revealed that a 12,000-seat arena would double the 40 events held each year in the TSB's smaller arena, events worth about $ 26 million. for the region.