Plans to build a New World supermarket, at the corner of Midland and Otaki Sts, were given the go-ahead in April 2022.
Foodstuffs South Island was granted resource consent by the Dunedin City Council for a new 3364sqm supermarket building, cafe, 140 car parks and a distribution centre on the 0.8ha site.
A Foodstuffs South Island spokesperson said the site was continuing to be used as overflow storage to support its Dunedin Distribution Centre and Trents Wholesale Dunedin operations.
“At this stage, there are no plans to develop the site in the medium term.”
Foodstuffs South Island held a ground lease on the Midland St site.
It was originally purpose-built for warehousing and had been used for overflow storage for the past 20 years.
This had continued following the council granting resource consent for a potential store development, the spokesperson said.
“A combination of market conditions and other factors have contributed to delays in progressing development on the site.
“As part of our regular property review process, we assess a wide range of considerations when planning new developments, including local population growth, customer and community accessibility, shopping patterns, roading changes, long-term resilience and broader development activity in the area.”
Foodstuffs South Island continued to invest in stores that served and supported the local community, including Pak’nSave Dunedin and New World Centre City, which remained popular.
It had also recently upgraded the neighbouring Trents building to enhance the experience for Trents customers.
Foodstuffs South Island remained focused on continually improving the customer experience across all its stores, the spokesperson said.
When resource consent was granted, it was estimated the supermarket would likely generate 496 vehicle trips in peak hours.
South Dunedin is also home to two Woolworths supermarkets as well as Pak’nSave Dunedin, owned by Foodstuffs South Island.
