NZ's fastest growing city has 'dead vibes' in the CBD
Friday, 21 July 2023
Has Tauranga really become a “ghost town”?
A sightseeing video by a visitor went viral this week for all the wrong reasons, after highlighting a city centre filled with shop windows decked in ‘For Lease’ signs, abandoned businesses and “dead vibes”.
The video, posted on TikTok by What Zoe Does, said 90% of stores in the main street were either closed or for lease.
Non-residents were shocked, calling it “dire”, “grim” with “dead vibes,” rather than the hum and buzz of activity and trade you’d expect in a city centre.
Tauranga's dwellers are aware the city centre is in crisis.
Former chair of Downtown Tauranga, Brian Berry, sounded the city’s death knoll in his last report this year, calling it “dead”, and that it had been dying for a number of years.
Downtown Tauranga figures as at January 2023 showed there were 514 occupied sites in the Mainstreet organisation’s catchment area and 166 empty sites.
This is an increase from January 2019, when there were 422 occupied and 281 empty sites recorded.
Gareth Wallis, general manager: City Development and Partnerships at Tauranga City Council said a number of issues led to the dead zone in the CBD.
“The need to strengthen or redevelop buildings after they were classed as earthquake-prone, an increase in the presence of large-scale suburban shopping centres, the impacts of Covid-19, and indecision by previous councils about progressing with long-held plans for the city centre.”
It’s not all doom and gloom. There are plans to bring the ghost town back to the land of the living and make it busier than ever.
The council was now committed to revitalising the city centre, said Wallis, with projects including a new civic precinct, transformation of the waterfront, and a range of public and privately funded projects.
These will not only increase shop occupancy he said, but create a “vibrant and thriving city centre”.
The new $306m civic precinct, Te Manawataki o Te Papa (the heartbeat of Te Papa), will include a library, community hub, civic whare (public meeting house), exhibition gallery, upgrades to a theatre and art gallery and a new museum. It is earmarked for completion in 2028.
Commissioner Anne Tolley was aware the cost of the project was significant in a cost of living crisis. Its benefits would be presented to council on July 24, in a business case, before the project is green lighted.
“The business case paints a picture of a thriving, beating and vibrant city heart that celebrates our heritage and culture…the prediction that in just over 10 years, there could be 5,500 people visiting Te Manawataki o Te Papa, and therefore the city centre, per day.” said Tolley.
New chair of Downtown Tauranga, Ash Gee, who runs popular cocktail bar and eatery Miss Gee’s, said that while she recognised the city is like it is now, she hoped people see it as “short term pain for long time gain” as the city transforms.
“The current vacancy rate in Tauranga city centre is not ideal, however we are not the only CBD in New Zealand faced with high vacancy rates. The construction of shopping centres such as Tauranga Crossing and Bayfair caused a vacuum effect for chain style retailers. This has made way for boutique retail which we are looking to attract.”
The city centre was going through a major transformation phase with two billion dollars worth of investment from Tauranga City Council and the private sector, which would drive thousands of people into the city centre daily.
“We are currently seeing a trend of innovative new businesses moving into the city centre. Repurposing vacant retail spaces into modern ground floor offices is starting to create a thriving business hub. There are some major companies beginning their plans for relocation back into the city centre, which you will start to see happening over the next twelve to 18 months.”