Sneak peek inside $1b Commercial Bay shopping precinct

Thursday, 4 June 2020

Auckland's Commercial Bay precinct before its 2020 opening. Video first published June 4, 2020.

After eight months of delays, the $1 billion Commercial Bay shopping precinct in downtown Auckland will open in a week.

Precinct chief executive Scott Pritchard says the delays were frustrating, but he was pleased to be opening now to kick-start the economy after the lockdown.

'With this, people will get a glimpse into a world-class shopping centre even if they can't travel overseas just yet,' Pritchard said.

'We're heading into a recession, that makes you balance your views when you know Covid-19 has really affected retailers. We're expecting trade in the first six to 12 months to be slower than expected because of the environment we're in.

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The Commercial Bay downtown mall in Auckland has three levels of retail including a floor dedicated to food outlets.

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'But over time I don't think Covid-19 will change the trend of urbanisation and more people moving into the city.'

Pritchard said a year from now Commercial Bay would be amid a bustling CBD and trading well.

Precinct chief executive Scott Pritchard says while delays were frustrating, he hopes the opening willpost lockdown would help kick-start the economy.

The centre was scheduled to open on March 28, just days after New Zealand moved into the level 4 lockdown.

The development includes a 39,000-square-metre office tower and 18,000sqm of retail space.

The retail precinct will have about 120 shops.

Commercial Bay's shopping precinct has three levels of retail with laneways and open spaces.

Including the the forgotten Little Queen St laneway.

Pritchard said Little Queen St was a laneway in central Auckland until 1974 and one of Precinct's objectives was to reinstate this piece of the city's past.

Architects reclaimed materials from the original Commercial Bay site including bricks and marine piles in their design for Little Queen St, Pritchard said.

The development includes more than 120 retailers, including international fashion labels Cos, Aje, Furla and Calvin Klein along with Kiwi designers including Storm, Twenty-seven Names and Yu Mei.

Pritchard said there were only a handful of retailers who would not make the opening due to the impact of Covid-19.

The mall will also have about 30 food outlets including Burger Burger, Bird on a Wire and Hawker & Roll.

The retail precinct was due to open last September but this was moved to March due to delays by contractor Fletcher Construction to complete the buildings.

The delay cost Fletcher Construction $52 million in liquidated damages.

On Thursday Precinct Properties announced the construction of a $90.2 million earthquake-resilient building at Bowen Campus, near Parliament, in Wellington.

The new building at 40 Bowen St and will be the first of a pair of buildings planned for the site. It will total 10,049sqm and consist of 1200 to 1700sqm of office floors across six levels.

It is expected to be completed in late 2022.

Pritchard said he had confidence in the future of commercial property and office buildings.

'Workplace strategies might change and workers might have more agility. But at its core, for a business to create a high performance culture they need to have an office environment which is important for any successful business.'