NZ: Martinborough to be turned into the “Tuscany of the South Pacific.”
Entrepreneur and hotel owner Murray Cole believes he is on the cusp of realising a 12-year dream to turn Martinborough into the “Tuscany of the South Pacific.”
Inspired more than a decade ago by a Sydney Morning Herald journalist describing the area as “a slice of Tuscany”, Cole has bought the 183-hectare Rapaki Farm to develop it into an estate of 39 lifestyle blocks 3km from the village.
He says Martinborough’s reputation is crying out to be repositioned and that something is “wrong” when two hectares on the outskirts of Queenstown can fetch $3.65 million while local real estate agents advise listing four-hectare lifestyle lots in Martinborough at $800,000 a pop.
“We don’t have an international airport – although we do have one only an hour away; and while we don’t have a lake, we do have a wine village.”
The first stage will include lot 1 to lot 11, with proposed second lots from 12 to 39. IMAGE/SUPPLIED
Last November, Cole – who has helped to run the family-owned and operated Martinborough Hotel for the past 12 years – gained approval from South Wairarapa District Council [SWDC] to subdivide the property, which will be subject to title once the sections are listed.
Until now, he has held off doing anything with the land and rebuffed offers – despite “every real estate agent chasing him” – because he doesn’t want a “cookie-cutter” approach.
“I want to come at it differently, to lift Martinborough and this lifestyle” and ultimately elevate the status and prosperity of the wider region, Cole said. The first of five development stages of the land on Shooting Butts Road, about two minutes’ drive from Martinborough Square and adjacent to Te Muna Rd vineyards and the back of the Martinborough Golf Course, will involve building roads to allow access to the 11 lots to go on the market next spring.
The project will be focused on complementing and enhancing the natural landscape, Cole said, with the well-established Rapaki Hillside Walk – which has been named as one of the top 10 leisure walks in New Zealand – being incorporated into the development’s design.
Although the estate has yet to be named, Cole is in consultation with the SWDC Māori Standing Committee to use the name “Rapaki”.
