Another Nelson building is set to come down after failing an earthquake strength test.
The building currently houses Bowater Hyundai but its CEO Chris Bowater says the safety of his staff and customers is of paramount importance, pointing out that the building has undergone some strengthening allowing them to safely occupy for the short term.
The Hyundai dealership will move across the road, to the corner of Rutherford and Hardy Sts where Bowater Honda currently is.
Bowater Honda will move to a recently refurbished, centrally located premises at 82 Achilles Ave, backing onto their Bowater Toyota dealership.
Chris says the cost of fully strengthening the building to the new building code was “not commercially viable” but he is excited about what the move means for the business. “Some would say Bowater Hyundai outgrew that building a year ago so it gave us the push we needed to move the businesses around. The changes mean we can better accommodate Honda in a more central location and we can upsize our Hyundai operation, which has seen rapid growth over the past few years.”
Chris says they aren’t rebuilding on the site in the short term, so it will be cleared and it will become a larger used vehicle sales yard. He says Honda will move into its new premises in early January and Hyundai will then move out of its current building in mid to late February, paving way for the building to come down.
