Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has narrowly missed having his home gobbled up by the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU).

Parker's home is in the large central-city block the CCDU has chosen as the site for the proposed metro sports facility, but his house and a couple of neighbouring commercial properties have been left sitting just outside the footprint of the planned facility.

That means Parker and wife Jo Nicholls-Parker will be spared the designation notices that other properties owners in the block are set to receive.

The notices effectively signal the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority's intention to acquire the properties so the land can be cleared to make way for the new sports centre.

Parker said yesterday that he knew when the CCDU began identifying its preferred site for the metro sports facility he could potentially lose his home, but he had not been overly worried about it.

"I was pretty relaxed about it either way," he said.

The CCDU had decided that neither his property nor the neighbouring commercial properties, which included a fairly new building, needed to be included in the designated area.

"We're right on the edge of the metro sports facility," Parker said. "I'm OK with that."

It is envisaged the new metro sports facility will include:

An aquatic centre with a 50-metre, 10-lane competition pool and dive and leisure pools.

An indoor sports stadium with eight courts.

A high-performance centre with facilities for coaching and training.

Administration facilities and parking for 500 cars.

A cost has yet to be put on building the complex but it has been identified as one of the CCDU's priority projects.

"We have funding in conjunction with the council to get under way with the designing on this one . . . because this is very much a priority for the community," CCDU director Warwick Isaacs recently told The Press.

He said the properties spared from inclusion within the footprint of the facility were allowed to remain because they fitted within the CCDU's vision for the area.

- © Fairfax NZ News