Christchurch City Council’s latest Central City Annual Update, alongside Stats NZ data, paints a positive picture of growth, said Business Canterbury chief executive Leeann Watson.
“People from the North Island are choosing to come to Christchurch to study and work and live, and development in the central city is a big part of that.”
The central city’s population has grown by more than 6% to 9160 residents in the latest estimates, recovering numbers lost during the Covid-19 pandemic years.
There is a goal of 20,000 residents in the central city by 2028.
Population growth is being supported by new housing, with 260 homes built and 573 in active development. High-density housing in the East Frame residential development has been a major contributor.
Watson said the anchor projects reaching or nearing completion were also a contributor to growth.
Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre opened in 2021, the new Court Theatre opened in May, Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre is expected to open in October and One New Zealand Stadium is on track for completion by April.
Employment is also on the rise, with 3270 new jobs added in the central city during the 2023–24 financial year – a 6.9% increase.
That brings the total number of jobs to 50,390, moving closer to the city council’s goal of 60,000.
Business confidence in Canterbury remains strong despite national headwinds.
In Business Canterbury’s just released August quarterly survey, 64% of firms expected the local economy to strengthen over the next year.
More than half (55%) planned to hire, and 59% intended to invest in property, plant or equipment.
The survey also revealed declining confidence in the Government, with only 32% of businesses believing the economy was being managed better than a year ago.
“In Canterbury, businesses are being established at twice the national rate. Our regional GDP is slightly positive, while the rest of the country faces nearly 1% retraction,” Watson said.
“Right now, we are the most attractive place in New Zealand for people to live and work.”
However, national economic conditions drove a 3% fall in central city retail spending in the year to June. Similar drops were recorded in other commercial centres, including Riccarton, Papanui and Hornby.
Watson said there are reasons for optimism about retail spending.
“Once the stadium and Parakiore are open, I think we can expect to see more spending in the central city because typically, people will spend at the bars, restaurants and accommodation providers in close proximity.”
While local retail spending dipped, international visitor spending (excluding Australians) rose 10.3% in the year to June.
The central city vacant site rate continues to encourage property owners to improve the amenity or find a permanent use for their vacant land, with only 25% of rateable sites in the core city area incurring the higher rate after site checks in June.
The higher vacant site rate was introduced in 2022 for unused and unimproved land in the central city’s core commercial zones – mostly between Rolleston Ave and Madras St (west to east) and Kilmore St and St Asaph St (north to south).
As a result, the amount of unused land in the core has fallen from 13.3ha to 11.6ha in the past two years.
Within the four avenues, vacant land has dropped from 58.8ha in January 2020 to 33.1ha in June 2024.
