Dunedin City Council is considering a public-private partnership to build a 60-room hotel and car park on council land on Dowling Street.
Public-private partnerships have been used in Australia but the idea is yet to take off in New Zealand. In such partnerships private companies typically develop and manage buildings and public sector bodies agree to pay for the use of the buildings over a long period of time.
The partnerships have been used to build schools, prisons, hospitals and convention centres and they have been mooted as a possible structure for the rebuilding of Christchurch.
The Otago Daily Times reported that the partnership being considered in Dunedin involved the council building a multi-storey car park and the private company building a hotel. The two parties would share the costs and returns from the investment.
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