The once-bustling central Wellington street facing ‘a death knell’
Tuesday, 10 September 2024
Quake-strengthening construction work along Wakefield Street has been described as the “death knell” of retail and hospitality there.
The street was once a “thriving little community” within the capital, according to Retail New Zealand.
Work is continuing on the street to improve the Wellington City Council’s civic administration building, the town hall and central library around the corner.
The earthquake-strengthening construction work along a central Wellington street has been described as the “death knell” of the high-end retailers, cafes and restaurants that used to operate there.
Wakefield Street, between Victoria and Cuba Street, was once a “thriving little community”, according to Retail New Zealand, boasting a Karen Walker clothing store, the iconic family-owned Gubb’s Shoes and the Lido Cafe, among others.
All have now closed or moved locations, with Concord, the restaurant that replaced the Lido on the corner of Wakefield Street and Victoria Street, also making the decision to close last month.
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“It’s almost like a death knell for those stores because of the construction that’s happening across the road, it’s really difficult to thrive alongside the economic environment we’re in,” Retail NZ’s Chief Executive, Carolyn Young, told Stuff.
“For lease” signs now outnumber busy shops along the street, which closed to traffic when demolition and earthquake strengthening work began at the Wellington City Council’s civic administration building earlier this year.
The town hall rebuild is also continuing along Wakefield Street, despite a cost blow out of $147 million, while down the road work is taking place to seismically strengthen and modernise the mammoth Te Matapihi central library.
“It’s not really conducive to people wanting to come into the area to shop, or go to a cafe,” Young said.
“It’s not going to be peaceful to walk there, and catch up with a friend. So it’s much more difficult for a business to feel it's vibrant and has foot traffic.
“Because the road is closed people will go a different way and stop at different cafes and shops. If you don’t have people coming through your store, you’re going to be making a loss and we know members are closing every week,” she said.
The closure of shops had a knock-on effect for landlords in the area too, Young said, with many losing tenants who could afford to pay market-rate rent.
Landlords needed that rent to pay for other costs like rising rates, she said.
“Retailers are saying ‘it’s so quiet at the moment, we can’t pay those sorts of market rents’. If retailers can’t negotiate those rents they move to a different area and leave landlords with vacant spaces.”
Wellington resident Kerry Needham told Stuff Wakefield Street had become “pretty dark and pretty bleak” in recent years, which felt like a “sign of the times”. Another resident, Nadia France-White, said Wellington had lacked a “heart” for some time.
“I think this is a great opportunity for us to reset that. So while the building is very disruptive, and I feel for the businesses down there, I do think something needs to change,” she said.
Wellington City Council said it had regular communication with businesses and residents in the area, including face-to-face drop ins for feedback, newsletters and letter drops about upcoming construction work that would be noisy.
The council also highlighted other improvements to mitigate disruption, such as increased loading zones and lights in the trees along Wakefield Street and Mercer Street to “liven up” and “attract people to the area”.