The resource consent hearing for a proposed 113-room hotel by Northlake Developments’ is still a month away, but the hotel is already being “offered for sale as a completed turn-key hotel” according to an online real estate listing.

The listing, available to view here claims to offer a “freehold, 113 key, 4-star hotel with full F&B [food and beverage] offering” with “strong YoY [year over year] occupancy and guest night growth”.

It is being advertised by Whillans Realty Group, an Auckland-based commercial real estate agency.

Online information indicates the listing was made on March 13, while the resource consent hearing for the proposal is not due to take place until May 14.

Locals were quick to express their displeasure at the discovery of the listing on social media.

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However, local lawyer Grant Fyfe said it was not unusual for developers to “test the waters” in this way. He said it could be expected that prospective buyers would be informed of any pending resource consent applications by the real estate agent.

The proposed hotel has been the source of strong disapproval from many members of the community. Seventy-two written submissions were received by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) on the topic of the proposed hotel, with 71 opposing, and one neutral. Many of the submitters said the proposed hotel was not in the spirit of the original development.

In his submission as a resident, Wanaka Community Board chair and QLDC councillor Quentin Smith said the application for the hotel “fundamentally undermines the zone and the character of the Northlake Community”, being well outside the scope of what was anticipated by the zone, the approved District Plan, and the residents.

Approval of the consent would “undermine the Operative QLDC District Plan and the communities’ confidence in its administration”, he said.

A series of images on the listing page shows an artists’ impressions of the hotel, on the site which currently houses a park and a community tennis court.

PHOTO: Thehotelpage.com.au