Mountaineer bucks recession

Iconic Queenstown building the Mountaineer is flying in the face of recessionary doom and gloom with a range of new businesses signed up as tenants. The Rees St Delicatessen will open on the first floor, overlooking Shotover and Rees streets in the central business district. Also opening will be new hair and beauty outlet Heaven.

A new Night ‘n Day store is set to open on the ground floor, the last ground floor space available, and discussions are being held with a florist business, also on the first floor.

Second floor office space has already been signed up by Global Publications Ltd and Browns Sothebys Realty, while the third floor will be taken up by Good Group Ltd and St George Trust.

Westwood Group Holdings co-director Johnny Stevenson said interest in the few spaces remaining continued to be high.

“Now that people can see the Mountaineer coming to life, and see the quality of the exterior and interior design for themselves, they’re coming to realise what a very special building this is going to be when it’s completed,” he said.

Most recently revealed, as more than 70 workmen work towards its July opening date, is the main entrance on Rees Street, an open, 12m-high atrium, with double-glazed doors, a curving staircase to the first floor, a large fireplace, vertical wooden fins, a pair of lifts and an opening glass skylight at the top of the four-storey building.

Heaven is a new concept from the owners of Queenstown’s successful Hush Spa. It will be a fun, funky and modern one-stop-shop for in-town express spa services, including a full service hair salon, nail bar, skin bar, and makeup bar, as well as tanning and massage.

Amy Green, who co-owns Hush and Heaven with Jan Butson, said the new premises would be “first floor Heaven” for clients.

“The nail bar will be in the style of a New York city nail bar, but with a view of the top of the Remarkables mountain range. It doesn’t get much better than that,” she said.

The Rees St Delicatessen will be launched by Sam and Claire Topliff and Gary Stephens. Sam has been manager of Chicos bar and restaurant for the past 10 years and Gary is a trained butcher who has cooked in restaurants for 14 years.

Sam said they saw a gap in the market for a deli in the CBD, and believed the Mountaineer was the perfect location that could house a 50-seater restaurant with a unique perspective over Queenstown.

“We’ll specialise in local produce wherever possible, delivering deli essentials alongside cabinet food and a breakfast, lunch and affordable dinner menu. We’ll also have fantastic coffee from Orb which is new to Central Otago and some great local wines,” he said.

Other tenants already signed up for the Mountaineer building include Quiksilver, Kathmandu, fashion retailer Andrea Moore, Betty’s Liquor and a manufacturing jeweller.