Christchurch demolition phase draws to an end

Published: 5:43AM Monday September 09, 2013 Source: Fairfax

Christchurch is 108 buildings away from the end of the demolition phase in the city.

Latest figures from the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) show 1503 full or partial demolitions have been carried out since the September 2010 earthquake - 984 in the central city and 519 in the suburbs.

A further 108 partial or full demolition jobs are scheduled but a handful more could be added to the list when owners and insurance companies reach decisions on whether to repair or knock down.

Big jobs left on the books include the 13-storey Victoria Apartments in Armagh St and Cathedral Square's Government Life building, while the fate of the 17-storey Forsyth Barr building is still under negotiation.

Recovery experts agree the rebuild will accelerate over the next 12 months but say anchor projects will be the vital building block.

Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce chief executive Peter Townsend said private investors and developers were waiting for critical details about the projects to be released before they made long-term commitments to Christchurch. "What we absolutely require is a framework of certainty in which investment decisions can be made in the central city.

"We need to know when the anchor projects are happening, who is doing them and what they will cost because the truth of it is they can't all happen at once."

Mr Townsend said economic analysis reports on all anchor projects were needed to "help set the priority levels for each of them".

Meanwhile, MrTownsend predicted the next three to six months would see an "acceleration towards [insurance] settlement" and an "avalanche of residential building work coming through".

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Christchurch demolition phase draws to an end