Destiny Church says it has secured the lease on about 10 hectares of land in Wiri in South Auckland and plans to build a university, schools and an auditorium there.
A spokesperson for the church says its other Auckland schools will be moved to the site after it takes over the lease in December.
The church says its development plans are consistent with the use for which the Auckland Council has zoned the land, but building consent has yet to be granted.
The church says its leader, Brian Tamaki, has always wanted a base in South Auckland as it's the home of the church's predominantly Maori and Polynesian congregation.
The plans were announced at a service in Rotorua on New Year's Day.
The Church runs Destiny School, a fully-registered composite private school with a roll of about 200 pupils, and it says it will move the school and its early childhood development centre to the Wiri site when it takes over the lease at the end of this year.
The Tertiary Education Commission says the Church can operate a private training establishment but cannot call it a university.
The commission says it has the discretionary power to award public funding to any tertiary institution.
