Auckland Council's $133 million plan to revitalise city's midtown unveiled

Monday, 27 September 2021

Auckland Council has unveiled a $133 million programme to revitalise Tāmaki Makaurau’s midtown.

The area radiates out from Aotea Square, encompassing landmarks like the Auckland Town Hall, Civic Theatre, SkyTower, Auckland and AUT universities, roads including Elliott, High, and Queen streets, and parks like Myers and Rangipuke Albert.

The programme will see a suite of projects – including the Victoria Street Linear Park, Aotea Centre’s refurbishment, and upgrades to Hobson, High and Albert streets – brought together.

The completion of Aotea Station, part of the City Rail Link, will be the cornerstone, with the slew of projects aiming to prepare for the “thousands of people” arriving by train and bus every day, the council said.

A $133 million programme of works is intended to revitalise Auckland’s midtown. (File photo)

* Queen St: Council sticks to 'plan A' to upgrade struggling street

* Auckland City Rail Link: Thousands face CBD bus changes

Impressions of a cross-section of the proposed Queen St revamp.

* A $20 million makeover for landmark Queen Street building by new developers

An intersection closure switch will take place to allow construction to continue for Aotea Station. It's expected to be New Zealand's busiest train station. (First published June 2021)

“When it opens, the Aotea Station will be New Zealand’s busiest with more people entering or exiting than any other.”

Auckland Council director of infrastructure and environmental services Barry Potter said with “significantly greater numbers” travelling to the area, improvements were needed.

“Our focus in recent years has been delivering a magnificent new downtown area and a more vibrant, people-friendly and accessible Karangahape Rd, and the focus is now shifting to midtown,” Potter said.

Work has already started on upgrading Queen St, with new designs for a revamp of the struggling ‘golden mile’ showing wider footpaths and a single lane of traffic each way.

Adjacent areas like High St have already gone through a transformation.

Councillor Pippa Coom said city centre residents and businesses had contributed more than $30m from targetted rates.

“That just shows the investment that's coming through and how businesses and residents have got skin in the game. They're wanting this revitalisation because they can see the long term benefits,” Coom said.

Auckland City Centres Residents' Group (ACCRG) deputy chairman Adam Parkinson said the area needs “a hell of a lot of work”.

“It's definitely a ragtag collection of disconnected neighbourhoods. So it’s in need [of] a lot of TLC.”

Coom said bringing life back to the centre city was vital for Auckland to overcome the economic challenges of the recent Covid-19 lockdowns.

“For that to happen you've got to have really attractive, friendly and safe public spaces.”

Auckland’s latest lockdown has cost central city businesses $110 million in sales, according to Heart of the City.

In a statement released on Sunday, the inner-city business group estimated customer-facing businesses in the city centre had lost an average of $85,000 in consumer spending since the beginning of lockdown on August 17.