Auckland park and rides: The $1 billion deal
Friday, 12 October 2018
Auckland Transport is considering a $1 billion plan for thousands of apartments to be built above park and ride sites and bus stations.
The agency said the government's Kiwibuild programme could be a catalyst, providing homes for key workers and helping to fund thousands of new park and ride spaces.
Consultants PWC have already given a tentative thumbs up to the concept of building three levels of apartments and a multi-storey car park at Papakura railway station.
Documents sought from Auckland Transport by Stuff show the agency is working with fellow council arm, Panuku Development, to assess the market potential of the land.
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Early ideas include creating a new entity with commercial goals to deliver the developments, manage parking revenue and eventually pump funds back for infrastructure.
The work has the dual purpose of generating revenue for only partially-funded plans to add 6000 park and ride spaces, while also putting more Aucklanders close to public transport.
'High level analysis and a number of informal approaches made to AT indicate there is merit in further progressing the concept,' said a May paper to AT's CEO Shane Ellison.
AT thought as many as 2500 apartments could be built on under-developed sites used for parking or bus stations.
The agency said its current 5500 park and ride spaces are 85 per cent full by 7.30am and almost chocker by 8.30am.
It is around $50-100 million short of the funds needed to deliver 6000 additional spaces planned over the next decade.
Development plans could be accompanied by charging for park and ride spaces which are presently free.
'An initial assessment of 5000 returning an average net $3 per weekday over 15 years has a present value of $33 million,' said the report.
AT believed that once revenue streams were proven, it could 'sell' that revenue to financiers.
Auckland Transport is weighing up the potential of development at 10 park and rides, including:
* Orakei
* Panmure
* Constellation
* Onehunga
* Homai
* Manurewa
* Papakura
* Sturges Road
* Henderson
* Silverdale
The four bus stations are:
* Akoranga
* Smales
* Rosedale
* A possible new university station
Auckland Transport believes the government's 'Buy off the Plans' component of Kiwibuild could encourage developers, raising the chance of pre-selling apartments.
'The residential offering could be suited to first home buyers, key workers and a range of occupiers,' said PWC in its high level assessment of development at Papakura Station.
Papakura currently offers 330 spaces on bare land, that would rise to 660 under the most viable of three options considered by PWC. Although part of the site is owned by Kiwirail.
The most dramatic potential transformation was pondered for the Constellation Busway station and car park, in an assessment by urban design consultants Urbanismplus in 2015.
One development concept delivered a possible $30 million gain for the council coffers.
That involved converting the 370 open car park spaces into a 15-storey apartment development with 359 dwellings, and almost trebling park and ride capacity to 999.
There's already interest in some of the sites, according to an internal Panuku memo.
'A number of credible development companies have approached AT enquiring about the prospect of partnering, to progress one or more of these park and ride development opportunities,' wrote Panuku's chief operating officer David Rankin.
'In addition to the recent approaches made to AT, Panuku has had considerable market interest in sites used as grade car parks in Panuku priority development locations.'
The papers released to Stuff show Auckland Transport has been debating for years behind closed doors on how to fund the expansion of its park and ride network.
A May 2016 presentation by Chris Morgan, the group manager for Strategic Development, said the full park and rides were a 'potential brake on patronage growth, particularly on the periphery of the network'.
Charging for the spaces could fund 1500 new ones over four years, but public consultation in 2014 found most submitters against paying at park and rides.
Auckland Transport said it was continuing to work with Panuku to explore the best way to advance the potential development of suitable sites.