Breaking ground

Village @ Leamington

Village @ Leamington, architects’ impression

Site manager Glenn Williamson, left, and Adam O’Leary break ground for Village @ Leamington.

Ground works have begun on a mixed-use development in Leamington which will become the third of its type in Cambridge but the first on the southern side of the Waikato River.

The three-storey Village at Leamington – marketed as Village @ Leamington –  project will fill what has been a vacant section in the development for many years.

Located on the corner of Burns and Campbell Streets, the retail-hospitality complex will consist of basement parking, nine retail shops and 30 apartments over two floors above.

Construction Advantage Ltd, which has delivered several new commercial buildings in Cambridge since 2007, will handle the project on instructions from owner representative Adam O’Leary.

Another Waipā firm, architects LAD Architecture, designed the new building to offer a modern design that complemented the existing Village complex which comprises single storey buildings and includes Fresh Choice supermarket and the Five Stags pub.

The new building, which joins Lakewood and Alpha St as the town’s other mixed-use development, will consist of one and two-bedroom rental apartments.

O’Leary said it was expected to help alleviate the strong demand for good quality rental accommodation in Cambridge.

All will have secure underground parking to minimise pressure on the surrounding car parking.

Ground works get underway.

“Like any major construction project, to get to the stage of commencing works involves a lot of time and effort from numerous people. Adding Covid into the mix created a further degree of complexity,” said O’Leary.

Construction Advantage director John Mason said it would employ as many local businesses as possible both during the design and construction phases.

“We are a proud Cambridge firm and always try and buy local for our projects to help support employment and prosperity for the town. With our local intelligence and supplier connections we can successfully mitigate the impact of Covid, to keep our projects on track,” he said.

Construction is expected to take a year during which time all existing retail businesses at the centre will remain open as usual.

A digger on site Village @ Leamington

More Recent News

Rifleman’s Le Quesnoy legacy

Three of the Kean boys from Southland served in Europe during World War One but only two came home. Private Denis Kean fought in Gallipoli and then, in 1916, was wounded at Ypres on the…

A visit to Le Quesnoy

Steve Tritt spent some time working at Waipā  District Council . Because of his family connection through Peter and working at council, Steve and his wife travelled to Cambridge’s sister city Le Quesnoy in 2018…

Hannah – from ducks to dux

Hannah Goodwin was named dux of Cambridge High School at senior prizegiving last Thursday evening, just moments after her long-time friend Emily Drake received the runner-up award, proxime accessit. Hannah, 18, said winning the school’s…

Hornet nest fears raised

Leading Waikato beekeeper Sarah Cross is angry with the Government’s response to the arrival of yellow-legged hornets in New Zealand. Biosecurity New Zealand has found five yellow-legged hornets, including three queens, in the Auckland suburb…