March 26, 2026 • 22 mins
Look around Auckland, and you’ll see a spattering of planned, under-development, or moth-balled building projects.
The city’s ever-changing face often dominates Aucklander’s conversations – for good, or oftentimes, bad.
So as we prepare to ride the $5.5 billion City Rail Link this year, what else should we be excited about?
Or, are there more building sites going quiet than we realise?
Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald property editor, Anne Gibson, will take us through the highs, and lows, of construction in Auckland.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Kielta.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Look around
Auckland and you'll see a spattering of planned, under development
or moth board building projects. The city's ever changing face
often dominates Auckland as conversations for good or oftentimes for bad.
(00:30):
So as we prepare to ride the five point five
billion dollar city rail link this year, what else should
we be excited about? Or are there more building sites
going quiet than we realize?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Today?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
On the front Page, Zed Herald Property editor Ann Gibson
will take us through the highs and lows of construction
in Auckland. And today we're going to be talking about
the good, the bad, and the ugly in Auckland. Should
we start with the ugly and go backwards? So what
(01:04):
site has been desolate for the longest and what's happening
with it? So?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I think the longest abandoned car parking site site doesn't
have a building, and yet it's a very valuable central
city site would be the old Royal International Hotel site.
So that's between Albert Street, Elliott Street and Victoria Street,
and that has not had a building on it since
(01:29):
the nineteen eighties, so it was aproximately forty years and
when you consider Scott Pritchard from Pressinct Property is saying
to me many years ago something that's stuck in my head,
and you want the value of the land and the
city to be the greatest and have the maximum and
best use. A car park is not the maximum and
(01:50):
best use for the Royal International Hotel site, which is
owned by an overseas entity, and it's right beside by
the way the new ty hot A Tuesday, which is
about to open later this year when the city rather
than opens.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Right, what would be the best use for this site,
because it's a prime location.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I would imagine the best use would be retail on
the ground and lower levels retail bars, hospitality, definitely some
commercial component and maybe some residential component as well, so
maybe some apartments. I mean, it's very central in terms
of the CBG. It's right in the heart.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It is kind of sad that we're excited on one
hand that something's actually happening there and then on the
other it's like, no, it's going to be a car park.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Carpoat long term. But yeah, it is very available, and
you know, we have talked before about the idea of
putting a higher rate on site that are abandoned that
have no development on them, to encourage the owners to
either sell to a party who might develop them, or
to develop them themselves.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Auckland is home to the country's largest new under construction
and single commercial office project. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So that's Manson's TCLM, the family business headquartered in Parnell.
And this is right opposite Enzme between Graham Street and
Harding Street. So it's thirty five Graham Street. It's the
premises of the former Auckland Council building and it's a
site that Manson's have got resource consent for an eleven
(03:28):
level building. Now there was about a three or four
level building on the site previously. Yaka Construction has demolished that,
much to the joy of the ENZME staff. Oh yeah,
I've heard about it. I've heard it, watch, watched and
heard with fascination. And so Manson's on spec. We don't
(03:48):
know of any preleasing that they've done. So again, very bold,
very audacious, very entrepreneurial company building offices. There worth substantial
numbers of car parks. Now there is talk as well
as some residential or maybe hotel component. They have to
keep a building that was on the site, the old
(04:09):
Bja wallhouse, which has heritage value, so that's been retained,
and they're also keeping a beautiful mural which was on
the side, So we're going to see that. We see
construction going on there now, we should see that round
about twenty twenty eight, maybe twenty nine by the time
(04:29):
they've finished there. And the beauty of that site it
is extraordinary. It's on a ridge above Fanchul Street, so
you've got a high position in the western precinct on
the edge of the CBD, but you've also got when
you go up, extraordinary views of beautiful views.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, you can kind of see the water slightly now
that the old building has gone. Now who do I
have to speak to? Do you reckon that they will
get some food food options down below? Very likely?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, extremely likely that there'll be I would have thought
likely that there would be some hospitality food offerings in there.
I know the plans that I've seen last year when
were of a large central atrium. So Mansons are very
good at designing buildings that are very flexible. So we've
(05:20):
seen the new one building down and the wind you
had quarter from them, and it's essentially a two building
campus linked by a big atrium, and so the beauty
of that. From a tenants perspective, you could take the
whole building, or from the owner's perspective, you can lease
to a number of tenants. So it'll be like that we.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Have to go check it out together, get a coffee
or something when it opens. Eventually we'll both still be here.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
If you look at some of the developments underway, they
are actually taking us to the sort of place people
want to live in and are attracted to work in.
One of the challenges we've got is it's all happening
too slow, and the MPs are too significant on some sectors.
So I think it's really highlighting the urgency and importance
of getting all of the various players working towards it.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So Auckland is now home also to the New Zealand's
tallest student block.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
It will be yes. Construction is taking place, so this
is precinct properties. They're building a thirty two level student
accommodation block. It's on Queen Street and so it's beautifully
positioned in terms of aut Auckland University and what Precinct
Properties have done. It's quite extraordinary is they've morphed from
(06:43):
being a solely commercial developer into being a solely residential developer,
which is a big swerve considering it's got a listed
presence on the nz X and it's got shareholders and
investors to answer to.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Scott Pritchard, the head of it, has done a good
job of explaining the story, which is that assets the
company is looking at the market in a completely different way.
So the building apartments in Dominion Road, in Herne Bay,
Saint Mary's Bay, and a number of student accommodation blocks.
(07:19):
So what Scott says is that there is demand internationally
and nationally for really good, high quality student accommodation and
it's fit for purpose. It's got all the boils and
whistles in terms of facilities within the building that students
will want, and it's a really good long term prospect.
You get an operator in perhaps to manage the building.
(07:44):
And it's very interesting what Precinct have done. Somewhat surprising
really given the fact that they were one of the
largest developers and investors in commercial buildings. They still have
that big presence, but in terms of their development platform.
They're changing that to be residential.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It is kind of nice saying an established company take
a turn like that and really look towards the future
and be innovative though.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay, yes, and that's exactly what Scott Pritchard tells us
is the demand for good quality residential in Auckland, particularly
suburban is really important. But of course your next question
may be about the downtown Permenoa development, which Scott is
also doing, and that is phenomenal, fifty six levels. Now
(08:29):
it's got accommodation in it as well. That's on the
side of the old downtown car park.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, and so tell me a little bit more about it.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah, So that's in the planning stages at this point.
So we're still able to park in the downtown car park.
But Presinct Properties has bought that and it will demolish
it before the end of the year, Scott tells me.
And it will build these two very audacious towers. It's
like Commercial Bay Times two all over again, but with
(09:00):
hotel and with like community space at the bottom. What
they're going to do is super interesting is a link
into the atriums of the existing Eon building and others
which are on that Commercial Bay block down near the
waterfront and create this kind of like, man, how can
I explain it? It looks to me a bit like
(09:21):
a forest inside. Yeah, it's very very beautiful, a place
that you'd be really drawn to light. We're all drawn
to Commercial Bay, right, which is very good and they've
done they're really good at it. They've done a phenomenal
job of Commercial Bay and they've got, let's face at
the top tenants in New Zealand. They've got ten thousand
people working on two blocks on downtown Auckland. So Pressinc.
(09:43):
Properties has got the largest concentration of people in New
Zealand in their buildings, on their sites. And this is
really kind of the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
So where they're building this is right opposite the Tempered
Bars kind of on Fanchial Street, just as it comes
up from Laura Albert on the waterfront.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It is nice as well because they really do say, man,
like I've read your conversations with Scott in particular as well.
It's nice to see a company and this is just
turning into a into a podcast opportunity for them, isn't it.
But it's nice to see a company actually think about
who's going to be using their spaces, you know, and
not just chucking something up for the sake of it.
(10:25):
They're thinking about the students, They're thinking about office workers
and where they might want to sit and eat their
sandwich at lunch.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You know, it's extraordinary. You know, Manson's and Precinct in
particular are outstanding in terms of green star buildings, facilities,
the way they're catering for people within their buildings. Yet
to go with color, Mensine. I'm looking forward to it
through the new one building down in the Windard Cortern.
(10:51):
Now he tells me they have a golf course simulator
in there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
That's what we need.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, every office is right, how much fun would that
being the lunch break? But phenomenal facilities, the way that
they're thinking of the future, the way that those two
companies in particular offer a level of amenity and sophistication.
The architects behind those designs, the interior architects, the landscape architects,
(11:18):
all the people that they work with.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
I don't know if you've seen the new MC building
right beside us here. I have, Yeah, inside there, they've
got thousands of plants because the office workers said we
want plants, so they created mensense, created this kind of
perrarium within what is that three sixty Vanchuel Street, this
building here, and so when you go to the reception
(11:42):
of the Crown previous Crown Law warrant firm previously known
as Meredith Connell, when you go to reception, it feels
like you're in the botanical gardens.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
It's quite nice. Yeah, well, let's move on to something
not so quite nice. All right, So you've written that
seascape is an easier words, perhaps the worst thing to
happen in our CBD in many years. Why is that?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, it is so. Work there hasn't really been active
in any substantial way for nearly two years. So August
twenty twenty four work stopped on Seascape. Now, that is
a fifty six level structure that is up. It's got
a tar crane that has got a boom on it,
that's raised. I was working at the angle the other
(12:28):
day driving over the Harbor Bridge. I estimate it to
be a thirty degree angle. So that tar crane is
a quarter of a kilometer up in the air. Now, Unfortunately,
people think it's a good idea at night to scale
that and hang off it with one hand and take
a photo for mum, which really I can't. I feel
sick even seeing those words to you. So the receivers
(12:52):
of the business that was developing that Shundi customs, what
they have to do now is keep the site safe,
keep those daredevil crane climbers off the site. I'm sure
they're not listening to us speak about this. We're not
encouraging any poor behavior, but they have to keep that
(13:12):
site safe and they have to ensure that the public
is safe from falling materials.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
I know one neighbor sent me photographs and on the
weekend sent me the correspondent with a correspondents with Auckland Council.
He's complaining that pieces of plaster are falling off that
building and he lives very nearby. So look, I mean,
aside from having an empty building an Auckland of that height,
an unfinished building in Auckland of that height and a
(13:41):
building where pieces of the building may be coming off
is really worrying. I've called it Auckland's first real ghost
tower as well, and that's what it is.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yeah, what can be done with it? What's going to
be what's going to happen? Is it just a wait
and see.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Three scenarios that I've worked out, and I think I'm
right about this. The first one is that it stays
like it is very long term. That's a terrible scenario
for Auckland, although internationally a lot of cities do have
unfinished buildings in them. Second scenario is that the receivers
sell it to another party and that they perhaps come
in and finish it and people get to live, work,
(14:19):
whatever in it. The third scenario is that it needs
to be potentially deconstructed. Would cost tens of millions of
dollars are here, so that would mean the building would
be taken down floor by floor with that giant crane there.
If the owners of the giant crane continue to allow
(14:41):
it to stay there, I don't know, you know, really,
I really can't say what will happen. But those are
the three scenarios that I see as likely.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Do we have any idea what's happening with the Old
New World at Vickstreet yet? Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
I talked to Food Stuff's Not Fund about that recently
and they said that they are preparing to apply for
the resource consents to rebuild a supermarket now they're not
proposing to put apartments on top, which is a bit
of a surprise, but that isn't what they do, right.
They build and own supermarkets which they then lease to
(15:17):
owner operators. So what they're going to do is build
a supermarket. It sounds like it will be fairly much
similar to what had been there before. But from my
point of vary from looking at from the outside, what
I'm hearing from a lot of the residents of Saint
Mary's Bay, College Hill, Ponsonby, Freeman's Bay, the CBG who
(15:39):
that is a very important supermarket for those people. They
feel very frustrated that it's been seven months and no
applications even for planning. So one of them came to
me and said, oh, it's the council's fault. They're obviously
halfing them up. I said, well, how do you know that.
Have you asked the council and the council hasn't received
an application, So let's hope get going soon.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Well, I hope so, because that was an incredible deli
section there.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Oh what about the seafood section and the wine section?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
I think one only has to go over to Sydney
and look at what they have done in central Sydney
to supercharge that city.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
You know the.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Difference between Auckland and Sydney. When I were first went
to Sydney, you know, twenty five years ago you would
recognize where Auckland is now. Go to Sydney now and
have a look. They've supercharged a transport network, but they've
actually built a lot of attractions at the same time,
they've built the houses for people being.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You know what I haven't heard about for a while,
actually the Symphony Center.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yes, the Symphony Center by Malaysian sid to be the
largest CBD trendsit orientated and apartment building. So this is
a building that is planned to rise beside the old
Tear Center. Yes, right, So Malaysian developers are buying the
site and had marketed properties there, but I hadn't heard
(17:17):
about it for a long time other so before talking
to you, I asked them what was going on now
they talked about They indicated to me that there may
be some redesign or some change in the plans. They
got resource consent back and I think twenty twenty three
for their existing plans, so it'll be very interesting to
(17:37):
see what they have planned.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, fingers Cross, because that's a really and that's forgotten
about part of part of Auckland and part of Queens Street,
isn't it. Do you?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
All those same Malaysians actually also are buying I hope
they soon have already bought it. Last year they hadn't
purchased it, but they are to buy Bledderslow House. Now
that's a council building right Bledislow Lane off Wellesley Street
going through to al Tear Center. Now, they were doing
(18:05):
an extraordinary job doing that building up. That was a
big investment for them. So RCP were the consultants that
I was dealing with. They were managing that project for them,
and it was a really big job and they were
taking the building back to what it had been in
terms of exterior cladding and look, and you know it's
(18:28):
an older building and it seemed to me that that
had a lot of integrity and you know, with all
that was being done there, I would think that that
would be quite a popular project.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
What about the Saint James Theater, Well, the.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
St James is really interesting. So that's Steve Bilby and
he's restoring that and the hope is there that this
theater will be reopened I went in there a couple
of years ago and almost I was really concerned when
I saw what was happening.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I saw the photo.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, so people were able to get into the site.
I think there had been a fire lit the floor
between the seats and the stage, so where the stalls
were that had been dug up, and Steve had imported
a base isolating facility, a large piece of engineering equipment
(19:24):
that would allow the building to be seismically really strong.
Now I think he's got a commitment of about fifteen
million from the government and fifteen million from Auckland Council.
It's a substantial amount of public funding committed to it.
I know that Chloe Swarbrock, the Auckland Central MP, is
(19:44):
really behind this and has been a great supporter. That's
been good to see. I honestly haven't been inside recently
enough to see what's occurring there. But again, it's sort
of like a really high hope that I have that
that would reopen, because you can't imagine Auckland with that
was civic theater, can you. That is such a key
(20:05):
part of who we are, and the beauty and the
grandeur and the wonderful restoration that was done there, So
let's hope the Saint James comes up and is really good.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Hopefully. Well, lastly, you've been The Herald's property editor for
thirty years nearly now, and you know a journalist and
interest in property for way longer than that. What I
want to ask you is this is obviously an exciting
era because we're getting the city rail link and we're
getting a lot more life back into Auckland, CBD. Which
(20:36):
do you think has been the most exciting era for you? Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
The most exciting era right here, right now now. And
I have to say to you, the NZICEC, the Convention Center,
buy Scar City, what an absolute knockout. I had a
friend here from the States on Friday and I took
them through and showed them, you know, the beautiful the
Groyl Restaurant, the Horizon High Tell, the Convention Center, and
(21:02):
I just felt great pride in terms of the fact
that I'm really fortunate in this job. People told me
a lot and I'm able to pass that on. It's
a great privilege, it's a great honor, but also insid
sc as a game changer for Auckland. I think bringing
thousands of people into the city to go to conferences
and conventions. That's pretty amazing. And even a guy in
(21:25):
a tourist shop in the area that I live in
and Devenport on the weekend said to me, what was
that thing you told me about last year? Anne, I'm like,
it's the trailing spouse. So you want the trailing spouse
to come and visit your tourist shop, so they're not
just the people at the conventions as the people who
they bring as well. And I do think that Fletcher
Construction and Scarcity have done a great job there.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Thanks for joining us and as always, pleasure.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
That's it for this episode.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Of the Front Page. You can read more about today's
stories and extensive news coverage at in Herald dot co
dot nz. The Front Page is hosted and produced by
me Chelsea daniels Kine. Dicky is our studio operator, Richard Martin,
our producer and editor, and our executive producer is Jane Ye.
(22:14):
Follow the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you
get your podcasts, and join us next time for another
look beyond the headlines.
Kielta.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Look around
Auckland and you'll see a spattering of planned, under development
or moth board building projects. The city's ever changing face
often dominates Auckland as conversations for good or oftentimes for bad.
(00:30):
So as we prepare to ride the five point five
billion dollar city rail link this year, what else should
we be excited about? Or are there more building sites
going quiet than we realize?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Today?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
On the front Page, Zed Herald Property editor Ann Gibson
will take us through the highs and lows of construction
in Auckland. And today we're going to be talking about
the good, the bad, and the ugly in Auckland. Should
we start with the ugly and go backwards? So what
(01:04):
site has been desolate for the longest and what's happening
with it? So?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I think the longest abandoned car parking site site doesn't
have a building, and yet it's a very valuable central
city site would be the old Royal International Hotel site.
So that's between Albert Street, Elliott Street and Victoria Street,
and that has not had a building on it since
(01:29):
the nineteen eighties, so it was aproximately forty years and
when you consider Scott Pritchard from Pressinct Property is saying
to me many years ago something that's stuck in my head,
and you want the value of the land and the
city to be the greatest and have the maximum and
best use. A car park is not the maximum and
(01:50):
best use for the Royal International Hotel site, which is
owned by an overseas entity, and it's right beside by
the way the new ty hot A Tuesday, which is
about to open later this year when the city rather
than opens.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Right, what would be the best use for this site,
because it's a prime location.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I would imagine the best use would be retail on
the ground and lower levels retail bars, hospitality, definitely some
commercial component and maybe some residential component as well, so
maybe some apartments. I mean, it's very central in terms
of the CBG. It's right in the heart.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It is kind of sad that we're excited on one
hand that something's actually happening there and then on the
other it's like, no, it's going to be a car park.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Carpoat long term. But yeah, it is very available, and
you know, we have talked before about the idea of
putting a higher rate on site that are abandoned that
have no development on them, to encourage the owners to
either sell to a party who might develop them, or
to develop them themselves.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Auckland is home to the country's largest new under construction
and single commercial office project. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So that's Manson's TCLM, the family business headquartered in Parnell.
And this is right opposite Enzme between Graham Street and
Harding Street. So it's thirty five Graham Street. It's the
premises of the former Auckland Council building and it's a
site that Manson's have got resource consent for an eleven
(03:28):
level building. Now there was about a three or four
level building on the site previously. Yaka Construction has demolished that,
much to the joy of the ENZME staff. Oh yeah,
I've heard about it. I've heard it, watch, watched and
heard with fascination. And so Manson's on spec. We don't
(03:48):
know of any preleasing that they've done. So again, very bold,
very audacious, very entrepreneurial company building offices. There worth substantial
numbers of car parks. Now there is talk as well
as some residential or maybe hotel component. They have to
keep a building that was on the site, the old
(04:09):
Bja wallhouse, which has heritage value, so that's been retained,
and they're also keeping a beautiful mural which was on
the side, So we're going to see that. We see
construction going on there now, we should see that round
about twenty twenty eight, maybe twenty nine by the time
(04:29):
they've finished there. And the beauty of that site it
is extraordinary. It's on a ridge above Fanchul Street, so
you've got a high position in the western precinct on
the edge of the CBD, but you've also got when
you go up, extraordinary views of beautiful views.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, you can kind of see the water slightly now
that the old building has gone. Now who do I
have to speak to? Do you reckon that they will
get some food food options down below? Very likely?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, extremely likely that there'll be I would have thought
likely that there would be some hospitality food offerings in there.
I know the plans that I've seen last year when
were of a large central atrium. So Mansons are very
good at designing buildings that are very flexible. So we've
(05:20):
seen the new one building down and the wind you
had quarter from them, and it's essentially a two building
campus linked by a big atrium, and so the beauty
of that. From a tenants perspective, you could take the
whole building, or from the owner's perspective, you can lease
to a number of tenants. So it'll be like that we.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Have to go check it out together, get a coffee
or something when it opens. Eventually we'll both still be here.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
If you look at some of the developments underway, they
are actually taking us to the sort of place people
want to live in and are attracted to work in.
One of the challenges we've got is it's all happening
too slow, and the MPs are too significant on some sectors.
So I think it's really highlighting the urgency and importance
of getting all of the various players working towards it.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So Auckland is now home also to the New Zealand's
tallest student block.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
It will be yes. Construction is taking place, so this
is precinct properties. They're building a thirty two level student
accommodation block. It's on Queen Street and so it's beautifully
positioned in terms of aut Auckland University and what Precinct
Properties have done. It's quite extraordinary is they've morphed from
(06:43):
being a solely commercial developer into being a solely residential developer,
which is a big swerve considering it's got a listed
presence on the nz X and it's got shareholders and
investors to answer to.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Scott Pritchard, the head of it, has done a good
job of explaining the story, which is that assets the
company is looking at the market in a completely different way.
So the building apartments in Dominion Road, in Herne Bay,
Saint Mary's Bay, and a number of student accommodation blocks.
(07:19):
So what Scott says is that there is demand internationally
and nationally for really good, high quality student accommodation and
it's fit for purpose. It's got all the boils and
whistles in terms of facilities within the building that students
will want, and it's a really good long term prospect.
You get an operator in perhaps to manage the building.
(07:44):
And it's very interesting what Precinct have done. Somewhat surprising
really given the fact that they were one of the
largest developers and investors in commercial buildings. They still have
that big presence, but in terms of their development platform.
They're changing that to be residential.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It is kind of nice saying an established company take
a turn like that and really look towards the future
and be innovative though.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay, yes, and that's exactly what Scott Pritchard tells us
is the demand for good quality residential in Auckland, particularly
suburban is really important. But of course your next question
may be about the downtown Permenoa development, which Scott is
also doing, and that is phenomenal, fifty six levels. Now
(08:29):
it's got accommodation in it as well. That's on the
side of the old downtown car park.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, and so tell me a little bit more about it.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah, So that's in the planning stages at this point.
So we're still able to park in the downtown car park.
But Presinct Properties has bought that and it will demolish
it before the end of the year, Scott tells me.
And it will build these two very audacious towers. It's
like Commercial Bay Times two all over again, but with
(09:00):
hotel and with like community space at the bottom. What
they're going to do is super interesting is a link
into the atriums of the existing Eon building and others
which are on that Commercial Bay block down near the
waterfront and create this kind of like, man, how can
I explain it? It looks to me a bit like
(09:21):
a forest inside. Yeah, it's very very beautiful, a place
that you'd be really drawn to light. We're all drawn
to Commercial Bay, right, which is very good and they've
done they're really good at it. They've done a phenomenal
job of Commercial Bay and they've got, let's face at
the top tenants in New Zealand. They've got ten thousand
people working on two blocks on downtown Auckland. So Pressinc.
(09:43):
Properties has got the largest concentration of people in New
Zealand in their buildings, on their sites. And this is
really kind of the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
So where they're building this is right opposite the Tempered
Bars kind of on Fanchial Street, just as it comes
up from Laura Albert on the waterfront.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It is nice as well because they really do say, man,
like I've read your conversations with Scott in particular as well.
It's nice to see a company and this is just
turning into a into a podcast opportunity for them, isn't it.
But it's nice to see a company actually think about
who's going to be using their spaces, you know, and
not just chucking something up for the sake of it.
(10:25):
They're thinking about the students, They're thinking about office workers
and where they might want to sit and eat their
sandwich at lunch.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You know, it's extraordinary. You know, Manson's and Precinct in
particular are outstanding in terms of green star buildings, facilities,
the way they're catering for people within their buildings. Yet
to go with color, Mensine. I'm looking forward to it
through the new one building down in the Windard Cortern.
(10:51):
Now he tells me they have a golf course simulator
in there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
That's what we need.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, every office is right, how much fun would that
being the lunch break? But phenomenal facilities, the way that
they're thinking of the future, the way that those two
companies in particular offer a level of amenity and sophistication.
The architects behind those designs, the interior architects, the landscape architects,
(11:18):
all the people that they work with.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
I don't know if you've seen the new MC building
right beside us here. I have, Yeah, inside there, they've
got thousands of plants because the office workers said we
want plants, so they created mensense, created this kind of
perrarium within what is that three sixty Vanchuel Street, this
building here, and so when you go to the reception
(11:42):
of the Crown previous Crown Law warrant firm previously known
as Meredith Connell, when you go to reception, it feels
like you're in the botanical gardens.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
It's quite nice. Yeah, well, let's move on to something
not so quite nice. All right, So you've written that
seascape is an easier words, perhaps the worst thing to
happen in our CBD in many years. Why is that?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, it is so. Work there hasn't really been active
in any substantial way for nearly two years. So August
twenty twenty four work stopped on Seascape. Now, that is
a fifty six level structure that is up. It's got
a tar crane that has got a boom on it,
that's raised. I was working at the angle the other
(12:28):
day driving over the Harbor Bridge. I estimate it to
be a thirty degree angle. So that tar crane is
a quarter of a kilometer up in the air. Now, Unfortunately,
people think it's a good idea at night to scale
that and hang off it with one hand and take
a photo for mum, which really I can't. I feel
sick even seeing those words to you. So the receivers
(12:52):
of the business that was developing that Shundi customs, what
they have to do now is keep the site safe,
keep those daredevil crane climbers off the site. I'm sure
they're not listening to us speak about this. We're not
encouraging any poor behavior, but they have to keep that
(13:12):
site safe and they have to ensure that the public
is safe from falling materials.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
I know one neighbor sent me photographs and on the
weekend sent me the correspondent with a correspondents with Auckland Council.
He's complaining that pieces of plaster are falling off that
building and he lives very nearby. So look, I mean,
aside from having an empty building an Auckland of that height,
an unfinished building in Auckland of that height and a
(13:41):
building where pieces of the building may be coming off
is really worrying. I've called it Auckland's first real ghost
tower as well, and that's what it is.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yeah, what can be done with it? What's going to
be what's going to happen? Is it just a wait
and see.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Three scenarios that I've worked out, and I think I'm
right about this. The first one is that it stays
like it is very long term. That's a terrible scenario
for Auckland, although internationally a lot of cities do have
unfinished buildings in them. Second scenario is that the receivers
sell it to another party and that they perhaps come
in and finish it and people get to live, work,
(14:19):
whatever in it. The third scenario is that it needs
to be potentially deconstructed. Would cost tens of millions of
dollars are here, so that would mean the building would
be taken down floor by floor with that giant crane there.
If the owners of the giant crane continue to allow
(14:41):
it to stay there, I don't know, you know, really,
I really can't say what will happen. But those are
the three scenarios that I see as likely.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Do we have any idea what's happening with the Old
New World at Vickstreet yet? Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
I talked to Food Stuff's Not Fund about that recently
and they said that they are preparing to apply for
the resource consents to rebuild a supermarket now they're not
proposing to put apartments on top, which is a bit
of a surprise, but that isn't what they do, right.
They build and own supermarkets which they then lease to
(15:17):
owner operators. So what they're going to do is build
a supermarket. It sounds like it will be fairly much
similar to what had been there before. But from my
point of vary from looking at from the outside, what
I'm hearing from a lot of the residents of Saint
Mary's Bay, College Hill, Ponsonby, Freeman's Bay, the CBG who
(15:39):
that is a very important supermarket for those people. They
feel very frustrated that it's been seven months and no
applications even for planning. So one of them came to
me and said, oh, it's the council's fault. They're obviously
halfing them up. I said, well, how do you know that.
Have you asked the council and the council hasn't received
an application, So let's hope get going soon.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Well, I hope so, because that was an incredible deli
section there.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Oh what about the seafood section and the wine section?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
I think one only has to go over to Sydney
and look at what they have done in central Sydney
to supercharge that city.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
You know the.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Difference between Auckland and Sydney. When I were first went
to Sydney, you know, twenty five years ago you would
recognize where Auckland is now. Go to Sydney now and
have a look. They've supercharged a transport network, but they've
actually built a lot of attractions at the same time,
they've built the houses for people being.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You know what I haven't heard about for a while,
actually the Symphony Center.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yes, the Symphony Center by Malaysian sid to be the
largest CBD trendsit orientated and apartment building. So this is
a building that is planned to rise beside the old
Tear Center. Yes, right, So Malaysian developers are buying the
site and had marketed properties there, but I hadn't heard
(17:17):
about it for a long time other so before talking
to you, I asked them what was going on now
they talked about They indicated to me that there may
be some redesign or some change in the plans. They
got resource consent back and I think twenty twenty three
for their existing plans, so it'll be very interesting to
(17:37):
see what they have planned.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, fingers Cross, because that's a really and that's forgotten
about part of part of Auckland and part of Queens Street,
isn't it. Do you?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
All those same Malaysians actually also are buying I hope
they soon have already bought it. Last year they hadn't
purchased it, but they are to buy Bledderslow House. Now
that's a council building right Bledislow Lane off Wellesley Street
going through to al Tear Center. Now, they were doing
(18:05):
an extraordinary job doing that building up. That was a
big investment for them. So RCP were the consultants that
I was dealing with. They were managing that project for them,
and it was a really big job and they were
taking the building back to what it had been in
terms of exterior cladding and look, and you know it's
(18:28):
an older building and it seemed to me that that
had a lot of integrity and you know, with all
that was being done there, I would think that that
would be quite a popular project.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
What about the Saint James Theater, Well, the.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
St James is really interesting. So that's Steve Bilby and
he's restoring that and the hope is there that this
theater will be reopened I went in there a couple
of years ago and almost I was really concerned when
I saw what was happening.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I saw the photo.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, so people were able to get into the site.
I think there had been a fire lit the floor
between the seats and the stage, so where the stalls
were that had been dug up, and Steve had imported
a base isolating facility, a large piece of engineering equipment
(19:24):
that would allow the building to be seismically really strong.
Now I think he's got a commitment of about fifteen
million from the government and fifteen million from Auckland Council.
It's a substantial amount of public funding committed to it.
I know that Chloe Swarbrock, the Auckland Central MP, is
(19:44):
really behind this and has been a great supporter. That's
been good to see. I honestly haven't been inside recently
enough to see what's occurring there. But again, it's sort
of like a really high hope that I have that
that would reopen, because you can't imagine Auckland with that
was civic theater, can you. That is such a key
(20:05):
part of who we are, and the beauty and the
grandeur and the wonderful restoration that was done there, So
let's hope the Saint James comes up and is really good.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Hopefully. Well, lastly, you've been The Herald's property editor for
thirty years nearly now, and you know a journalist and
interest in property for way longer than that. What I
want to ask you is this is obviously an exciting
era because we're getting the city rail link and we're
getting a lot more life back into Auckland, CBD. Which
(20:36):
do you think has been the most exciting era for you? Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
The most exciting era right here, right now now. And
I have to say to you, the NZICEC, the Convention Center,
buy Scar City, what an absolute knockout. I had a
friend here from the States on Friday and I took
them through and showed them, you know, the beautiful the
Groyl Restaurant, the Horizon High Tell, the Convention Center, and
(21:02):
I just felt great pride in terms of the fact
that I'm really fortunate in this job. People told me
a lot and I'm able to pass that on. It's
a great privilege, it's a great honor, but also insid
sc as a game changer for Auckland. I think bringing
thousands of people into the city to go to conferences
and conventions. That's pretty amazing. And even a guy in
(21:25):
a tourist shop in the area that I live in
and Devenport on the weekend said to me, what was
that thing you told me about last year? Anne, I'm like,
it's the trailing spouse. So you want the trailing spouse
to come and visit your tourist shop, so they're not
just the people at the conventions as the people who
they bring as well. And I do think that Fletcher
Construction and Scarcity have done a great job there.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Thanks for joining us and as always, pleasure.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
That's it for this episode.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Of the Front Page. You can read more about today's
stories and extensive news coverage at in Herald dot co
dot nz. The Front Page is hosted and produced by
me Chelsea daniels Kine. Dicky is our studio operator, Richard Martin,
our producer and editor, and our executive producer is Jane Ye.
(22:14):
Follow the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you
get your podcasts, and join us next time for another
look beyond the headlines.
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