Arlington Street
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-
Location:
Arlington Street, Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington -
Land area:
17,685 sqm -
Type:
Apartments and terraced homes -
Total new homes:
301 -
Rooms:
152 one-bedroom, 105 two-bedroom, 34 three-bedroom, 8 four-bedroom, 2 five-bedroom -
Status:
A staged completion between 2025-2027
What’s planned
The warm, dry and modern medium-high density housing will offer a mix of public and supported housing homes. They will range in size to meet the needs of a range of people from those on their own, through to large families. There will also be community spaces, parks, play areas, gardens and extensive landscaping.
We’re also linking with residents, community groups, stakeholders and partners to grow a supported and connected wider community in this part of the city – which has a rich history of providing key worker and social housing for people in central Wellington.
- Total new homes 301
- Includes 40 supported housing homes
- All public housing
- 16 mixed apartment, unit and terrace buildings, from 2-6 storeys high
- Shared community centre, parks, play areas, community gardens
- The 1.8 hectare site lies between Arlington, Hopper and Hankey streets and has been leased from Wellington City Council for 125 years
- Replaces 212 Council homes, including the earthquake-prone George Porter Tower, which were old and didn’t meet healthy homes standards
- A staged completion between 2025-2027
Timelines
Please note: large and complex projects of this size have many variables, so timeframes could change
| When | What's happening |
| March 2020 | Resource consent granted by Wellington City Council |
| July 2020 - April 2021 | Demolition and site clearance |
| May 2021 - End 2022 | On site civil engineering work |
| Mid 2022 | Staged construction starts |
| Between 2025-2027 | Staged completion of homes |
Plans, drawings and resources
News and media
- Government approves funding for around 300 new public homes in transformational urban regeneration project, 17 February 2022
- Minister Woods - Government approves funding for around 300 new public homes in transformational urban regeneration project, 17 February 2022(external link)
- Kāinga Ora site helps with eradicating pests in Wellington, September 2021
- Team effort to stamp out graffiti, October 2020
Letters
- Notice of works being done [PDF, 370 KB] - 7 November 2022
- Notice of works being done [PDF, 297 KB] - 4 October 2022
- Notice of works to Te Mara apartments residents [PDF, 341 KB] - 29 August 2022
- Notice of works to Te Mara apartments residents [PDF, 376 KB] - 7 April 2022
- Notice to residents of work being done [PDF, 336 KB] - 4 February 2022
- Notice to residents of investigation work [PDF, 284 KB] - 7 January 2022
- Site remediation for Arlington [PDF, 960 KB]
- Notice to residents - alteration to existing traffic control - Multi Civil Contractors [PDF, 281 KB] - 16 November 2021
- Notice to residents - alteration to existing traffic control - Multi Civil Contractors [PDF, 272 KB] - 4 November 2021
- Revised Resident Notice - Hankey Street - Multi Civil Contractors [PDF, 635 KB] - 30 October 2021
- Resident notice - Hankey Street - Multi Civil Contrators [PDF, 548 KB] - 22 October 2021
- Demolition update, Arlington [PDF, 14 MB] - 27 August 2021
- Visual clearance inspection, 50 Hopper Street [PDF, 7.3 MB] - 28 June 2021
- Arlington overview update [PDF, 103 KB] - 10 June 2021
- Clearance report, 50 Hopper Street [PDF, 4.9 MB] - 19 April 2021
- Demolition update, Arlington [PDF, 187 KB] - 9 February 2021
- Drop-in sessions posters, Arlington [PDF, 4.2 MB] - Nov/Dec 2020
- Demolition update, Arlington [PDF, 420 KB] - 20 November 2020
- Team effort to stamp out graffiti - October 2020 - news story
- Demolition update, Arlington [PDF, 421 KB] - 6 October 2020
- Demolition update, Arlington [PDF, 241 KB] - July 2020
- Arlington overview [PDF, 207 KB] - 4 May 2020
Plans, consents, reports
- Resource consent application, August 2019
- Consultation and engagement summary, August 2019 [DOCX, 4.6 MB]
- Public consultation boards, July 2019 [PDF, 19 MB]
Video
Timelapse - deconstruction and demolition of Arlington buildings, July 2020 – May 2021
Arlington site flyover showing early designs - download video(external link)
Read more about our Mount Cook developments
Mount Cook Community Reference Group
The community reference group is a forum for community feedback and involvement, alongside updates from Kāinga Ora and its contractors as new homes are built at Rolleston and Arlington. Find more informationon on the Community Reference Group page.
Tell us more about the Arlington Development.
We will be building around 300 new, warmer, drier homes between Arlington, Hopper and Hankey streets. These will replace 212 Council apartments including the earthquake-prone George Porter Tower, which were old and didn’t meet healthy homes standards.
To help ensure more warmer, drier housing could be built in Wellington City, Kāinga Ora entered into an agreement with Wellington City Council in 2019 to lease, develop and maintain the site for 125 years. All of the homes will be public housing to help address the increasing demand in the region.
Arlington will include a range of shared amenities from orchards and gardens through to the community centre and public park at the heart of the development. These will help residents build a sense of belonging, pride and connection with their homes and wider Wellington.
The 17,700m2 site will consist of 16 buildings, ranging from town houses through to six-storey light-engineered timber apartment blocks.
The usage of light-engineered timber will also see significant reduction in site carbon emissions as well as opens up the opportunity to use off-site manufacturing (OSM) for portions of the build.
The adaptability of OSM means this build method tackles some of the major challenges facing the residential construction sector, such as reducing construction time, cost skills and materials shortage, whist supporting sustainability and health and safety.
How much will Arlington cost to deliver?
Arlington has been allocated $296 Million (including GST) of funding to deliver around 300 new public homes. This also includes the removal of the former buildings, remediation of the land, infrastructure, construction of the new homes and development of the supporting communal amenities.
Why is it costing $1m per unit to build? How does that compare to other apartment builds in the region?
Arlington is more than just a residential build, it is an urban regeneration of around 1.8 hectares of land in the heart of Wellington. The development includes a variety of amenities such as shared community gardens, orchards, green spaces, community areas, playground and office/retail spaces designed to create broader social outcomes within the community.
The funding covers the cost of homes, extensive site remediation, infrastructure and creating places and spaces within the development to help integrate the new buildings and residents into the well-established existing community.
Previously Arlington included 67 affordable homes. Why was Arlington turned into 100% public housing in early 2022?
There are currently 858 individuals on the housing register(external link) in Wellington City alone. While there were originally plans for some of the homes to be used for affordable housing, given the growing waitlist and urgent need for public housing, our focus now is on all the homes to be used for public housing at this point in time.
Do you have concerns around a large concentration of public housing in the area?
There are many benefits for creating a large concentration of public housing in one area. International evidence suggests it is easier and cheaper to provide a wide range of services when those in need are located close together rather than spread across a range of suburbs. For Arlington this means the number of homes across the site has allowed Kāinga Ora to include a staff office on site.
The UOO used Census data to examine the relationship between levels of public housing concentration and health outcomes. It found living in places which had a greater proportion of public housing customers resulted in small but beneficial outcomes for public housing customers five years later.
International and local research also suggests that public housing tenants, and low-income earners more generally, benefit from living with others who share similar experiences. Conversely, poorer outcomes are more common when forced to compare themselves daily with better-off neighbours who may well stigmatise them because they live in public housing.
Who will live in the new homes?
The Arlington development will bring around 300 new, warm, dry, healthy homes to Mt Cook. These homes range from one-bedroom through to five-bedroom family homes.
To help meet the needs of a wide range of customers and provide progressive housing solutions within the community, approximately 67 homes will be accessible or universally designed and around 40 homes have been earmarked for supported housing.
Kāinga Ora will match homes to individuals and families on the Ministry of Social Development’s Housing Register, who have the highest priority for a home of that size and in that location.
The size of the homes means they will be suitable for individuals, couples and small families.
What is supported housing?
Supported housing combines public housing with services that help people live more stable, productive lives. It is developed by packaging housing together with flexible supportive services that are designed to meet each person’s individual needs. These may include, but are not limited to counselling, employment assistance, healthcare, budgeting and skill development that can empower and enable individuals to live stable lives with dignity.
Will Arlington have 24-hour care available onsite?
Kāinga Ora has provisioned for a staff office on site in addition to flexible spaces to accommodate service providers where required.
Kāinga Ora will continue to work with the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to identify the key cohorts who will call Arlington home and ensure an appropriate operating model is established to support the site.
What will Kāinga Ora do to support their customers?
Kāinga Ora have adopted new approaches to improve our ability to support behaviour change. These include partnerships with justice, social and health agencies, specialised intervention teams, tenant retransfer policies and community based teams. Kāinga Ora also have an intensive tenancy management service, with dedicated and specialist staff who work with other agencies to address issues.
In November 2021, we started to roll out Kāinga Ora’s new Customer Programme. Our Customer Programme significantly increases capacity in our frontline teams, which will reduce the number of homes our people look after. This will mean our most experienced and proven teams can focus on working with a smaller group of tenancies.
With smaller portfolios, Kāinga Ora Housing Support Managers are able to be more visible on site and build better connections with customers and wider community.
How will you ensure the large site remains safe?
We’ve worked alongside our lead architects Designgroup Stapleton Elliott to create a development which uses Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). In practice, this means that there will be passive observation of all shared space and clearly defined use of spaces to ensure ownership, responsibility and natural surveillance of parks, play spaces and access routes. This use of CPTED has been shown to act as a deterrent, ensuring residents and commuters feel safe while using or travelling through the development.
Kāinga Ora plan to operate a staffed office from the Arlington site to facilitate the customer support model. This will be resourced prior to completion of the site and operate during business hours.
Will there be any transitional homes in Arlington?
Due to the density of Arlington, we will not be including any transitional houses in the development.
For more information
See more of what is planned for the Wellington region or if you have any questions contact:.
Upper Hutt, Wairarapa, Johnsonville, Ngaio, Wellington central and Eastern suburbs
- Contact Caroline Speight, Stakeholder Relationship Manager, by email or freephone 0800 801 601 and ask to be transferred.
Lower Hutt including Stokes Valley and Wainuiomata
- Contact Jo Burleigh, Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager, by email or freephone 0800 801 601 and ask to be transferred.
Kapiti Coast, Porirua, Mount Cook, Newtown, Rolleston and Berhampore
- Contact Josh Clark, Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager, by email or freephone 0800 801 601 and ask to be transferred.
Page updated: 23 February 2023