15/06/2023
To Porirua Adventure Park supporters, followers and stakeholders,
Since our last communications with you, our development team has been working in overdrive to find a solution that enables the Park development to get underway. Like you all, the COVID pandemic impacted all aspects of our business and personal lives and was not kind to this development or the Tourism Industry across NZ. We have been forced to pivot and consider things through a different lens, which would enable us to maintain our original intention of bringing a world class adventure park with a mix of attractions and experiences to the Wellington Region, based in Porirua.
We know first-hand what positive impact this development will have to the region and the communities within, having witnessed the successes and benefits the Canterbury community are loving from the first Park we developed in Christchurch.
In recent times, we have been engaging with our regional stakeholder, Porirua City Council (PCC), Ngati Toa and Wellington NZ, to land on a position that enables us to make a start on the Porirua Park this year with a view to have it open for business by Christmas 2024. We are aware of a number of social and media outlets currently running stories about the Porirua Adventure Park and how it is progressing, but unfortunately these stories have not contacted us to get the facts. Below is an update on where we are at with the development, and the challenges we still have and are working with stakeholders to solve.
We are targeting a Christmas 2024 opening of the Park. We will open the Adventure Park with the following attractions and adventure activities:
• New Zealand's first indoor surfing experience - check out https://www.oana.surf to see an exemplar of this attraction
• New Zealand's longest dual zipline at 1.4kms
• Multiple walking & running trails through the park
• Established and new MTB trials network (multi grades)
• MTB uplift services, hire and lessons
• Café
• 280 new car parks
• New pedestrian & bike overbridge over Broken Boundary Rd
• New public toilet block located at Spicer Park
• Establish Heli Operations base
The total development costs to open the park in 2024 with the above attractions and amenities will be $14.5M. We have secured and are negotiating $10M of private sector funding. In partnership with Porirua City Council we have secured $1.5M from Government (via MBIE) to put towards the park’s infrastructure, car parking and bridge. We currently have a funding gap of $3M which we are working overtime to close.
We have invested almost $3M to date to get this development ready to go. PCC partnership funding has been close to $1M to date. This development has always been a partnership with PCC, as the attractions and its buildings and infrastructure are to be built on PCC owned land, for which they will receive a commercial rent from the operation when open.
One option we are pursuing to close the last $3M funding gap is to seek a bank or a private lender for debt for the development. The potential debt funders will require some security against the land owner to satisfy their requirements, which is normal when lending from a bank for property development. We have previously had an approved underwrite from PCC for $4M for this purpose, which was part of our partnership terms with them and was approved in 2019. We are currently seeking for this tool to be reinstated by PCC as the land owner at a lower level, up to $3M, which would cover the gap to close. We continue to source further private sector investment or other financial solutions to also close the gap and are working with PCC on any other ideas or possibilities that could assist.
We have always had a view that we did not want to impose any costs to the Porirua ratepayers for this development. This intention remains today. Our development (when operational) will return a new and innovative revenue stream to Porirua City Council. In the order of $12-$15M will be paid to PCC over the term of the lease.
It is our intention to deliver the Gondola sightseeing product in 2028, which provides enough time for us to re-engage with the private sector as well as working to gain Government support for this larger-scale infrastructure part of our development. NZ's tourism sector is showing strong signs of recovery and we expect this improvement curve to continue over the next 24-36 months, which will also help substantiate further development of the Gondola attraction within the Park.
I trust the above provides some clarity on where we are at, what our current challenges are and what we are asking from our regional partner and land owner, PCC. We remain super excited and enthused to bring this Park to life for the Wellington Region and Porirua. We are almost there. We have had fantastic support to date from all of you and from our partners, stakeholders and founding investors, and we would be grateful for your continued support as we work through this final phase to get underway.
Kind regards,
Darron Charity
Director & Founding Developer, Porirua Adventure Park
