Stage Two Car Park Building - Rendered Image - May 2025

An exciting opportunity for the future is a five-storey car parking building on the south side of our site. This is not part of our Stage One focus, which is to complete the church building, but rather a strategic addition, as parking spaces will be in high demand in the surrounding streets.

One significant feature of the Resource Consent for this building is permission from Council to open it to the public and collect valuable parking revenue. This means that when our church has lower demand for parking (e.g. Monday to Friday during business hours), revenue can be generated at times when public and commercial demand (from Te Kaha, Ara, etc.) is at its highest.

Parking revenue creates the opportunity for external investment that contributes to construction costs. This could take the form of a joint venture, or involve various ownership and/or lease structures.

We’re currently undertaking a feasibility study using projected income against construction costs to evaluate the return on capital. This will help inform decisions around the best ownership and operating model.

What we already know is that the engineering and civil works for a car parking building of this size are significant and cannot be done after the church building is completed. Engineers have recommended that we carry out all ground improvements and foundations at the same time as the church building. A standard ‘on-grade’ asphalt ground-level car park could then be finished and landscaped, providing around 85 spaces.

The key thing for now is to keep the option open for a future parking solution that meets our needs.