Tauranga Marine Precinct project has received a boost with the sale of the Holcim Cement site.

The $10.4 million project needs the funds from the 16-18 Mirrielees Road site sale to proceed, with settlement set for December 23.

Settlement for the 16-18 Mirrielees Road site is set for December 23.

'It's a good outcome for council,” says project manager Phil Wardale.

The project also requires funding from the sale of commercial lots, which Phil is also optimistic about. Following the expressions of interest process he's in discussions with 22 companies over those sites.

All but two of the companies wanting to set up shop within the Marine Precinct project are from Tauranga.

He is also keen for the key piece of infrastructure - the proposed 200 tonne travel lift - to be of greater lifting capacity if one can be found.

Speaking after the City Vision Committee meeting, Phil says he doesn't yet know what the capacity of the hoist may be, but he wants the largest capacity hoist available.

'I would love it to be more than 200 tones but we won't know until we have concluded that procurement,” says Phil.

'The process will be to assess which travel lift we can acquire. Four hundred tonnes would be nice, we are just going to try and do what we can.”

Council approved the Marine Precinct Project on 3 June 2014 with a project budget of $10,397,120 split evenly between the 2015 and 2016 financial years. Council funding was conditional on receiving $5m from the Regional Infrastructure Fund being confirmed as a grant.

Phil and Jane Lovell-Gadd, the city General Manager Organisational Services, have assembled a project control group which includes TCC staff along with Wardale Ltd consultants. Keith Tempest and Tony Reynish are the initial members of the Marine Precinct Group of Advisors.

The project will report to the City Vision Committee every quarter, with the funding targets confirmed in a report presented in March.

Phil's company, Wardale Marine Consulting, was originally commissioned to provide an industry overview of the marine industry precinct.

Wardale updated a number of assumptions made about the project and provided input into the business case to seek council funding in addition to an economic development grant.

As well as speaking with Tauranga marine industry participants, Phil visited several large haul out-yards in Queensland, including the Brisbane Marine Industry Precinct and Rivergate – which operate some of the largest haul-out travel lifts in the southern hemisphere.

He talked to vessel operators from outside the Tauranga region to understand how their maintenance requirements were being catered for.

The Marine Precinct is intended to replace the former Tauranga 600-tonne slipway demolished in 2007 to make way for the construction of the second harbour bridge.