Unloved Auckland suburb to get some much-needed TLC

Monday, 3 February 2025

Avondale was neglected for decades as it lay on the edge of Auckland City's boundaries.

A new community centre and library in the town square were expected to improve Avondale’s appearance.

The iconic Dale the Spider statue awaits relocation after removal during construction.

The tired looking Auckland suburb of Avondale is getting some love with work starting on a new community centre and library as part of its rejuvenation.

Avondale lies in between New Lynn and its vibrant Lynn Mall, and the more affluent suburb of Mount Albert.

It’s regarded as an area with huge potential due to its proximity to the North Western Motorway, the train station which will receive a boost when the City Rail Link opens next year, and a cycle path that goes all the way to the city which is just 10km away.

Yet despite all it has going for it, Avondale’s main street has looked run down for decades, starved of the investment that other Auckland suburbs have had.

Eke Panuku, the Auckland Council-controlled organisation that’s involved in urban regeneration, has targeted Avondale as an area which needs investment, which is why a section of its main street is currently being torn down to make way for a new community centre and library, known collectively as Te Hono.

Eke Panuku’s priority location director Richard Davison is spearheading the Te Hono changes and explains why Avondale got left behind in the days before the supercity.

“The benefits that New Lynn have experienced are because they were the centre of Waitakere City, whereas Avondale was still part of Auckland City,” Davison said.

“So Auckland City focused on its heart, and Avondale was at the very edge of its realm, whereas New Lynn was the centre of the (Waitakere City) realm.”

But Davison believes Avondale’s time has arrived. There have been attractive looking apartments built around the town centre which have improved main street’s appearance, and places like Browne Street Cafe, other eateries, and a resurgence of movies and concerts at the renowned Hollywood Cinema, have brought some vibrancy to the town - even among the vape shops, money lenders and cheap knick-knack stores.

The deconstruction of a parade of shops, to be replaced by more community focused facilities will also improve Avondale, Davison feels.

“I think we need to put a caveat that Eke Panuku isn't the silver bullet,” he said.

“We're just contributing and inserting, along with other government agencies and private development and the business association to do our bit.

“The bit we're doing is recognising that Avondale, from a town centre strip point of view, is two physical places.

“There's the bit towards the cinema, then there's the bit further up, where we talk about Rosebank Road.

“But then there's what’s in between, which is the empty property and the shops that we're currently knocking down, which is right where the train station and the primary school is.

“The middle is a little bit of a gap and our contribution to the Avondale Town Centre is putting that final urban puzzle piece in which connects the town centre’s pieces together.

“What you're getting is a multi-million dollar, two-building, three-level output that brings the centre together.”

The new community hub and town square will take two years to complete and the Avondale Business Association has been working with Eke Panuku on the changes to the town centre.

All major banks and well known retailers have left Avondale, but the business association’s chair Marcus Amosa feels it could create a new identity.

“We know what we're not, we're not a mall, and we don't have the things that malls have,” Amosa said.

“A big part of it is that we can't control everyone like a mall does. So we've got to work with the landlords we've got here, we've got to work with some of the current business owners.

“A lot of the shops are going to be boutique and more to your local needs.

“The association is focusing on eateries, because that's the thing that will draw people out.

“Online shopping has taken retail away from main streets. So it's going to be things that people are going to have to experience like, going out, eating, hospitality, things of that nature.”

Chair of the Whau local board, Kay Thomas, says other changes which have happened recently in Avondale are improved lighting, replacement of slippery pavers, installation of CCTV and better looking signage for shops.

But she also feels the town centre went through a period where it was unloved.

“It suffers the same problem that Ōtāhuhu has, that they were both on the periphery of the old legacy Auckland City Council area and they got forgotten and neglected and didn't have any investment in them,” Thomas said.

“Eke Panuku have led that regeneration. It has incredible potential and one of the things we're aware of is the amount of artists that live in the area. We fund an art broker and also the Whau Arts Festival.

“So there's a lot of creative potential, there's a lot of potential to make it better.”

But the elephant in the room when it comes to Avondale is the huge area of wasteland in the middle of the main street, where the 3 Guys supermarket operated until 1997.

Since then it’s been a deserted eyesore and often a dumping ground. Eke Panuku has purchased a property behind it where there were 43 abandoned homes. These have been de-constructed, so there should be a bigger development site.

Eke Panuku is working with the Marutūāhu-Ockham Group to progress the proposed housing development in Avondale and both parties are working through issues to agree the master plan for the site, which will be designed to benefit the wider community, including ensuring the development supports the neighbouring upgraded town square and Te Hono.

Davison doesn’t feel money would be well spent improving how the site currently looks when it will eventually be replaced by potentially 750 apartments, but he does appreciate patience is running out and Amosa says this shouldn’t have taken so long.

“It’s been 27 years since they demolish it and it's still like that,” he said.

“We made the most of it and turned into a sort of art park and graffiti artists use it quite a lot.

“But nowhere else in Auckland would you find that in the town centre.”

Talk of a swimming pool for Avondale has also been going back decades. The nearest pool is Mount Albert Aquatic Centre, which is 4.1km to the east but already over capacity, or West Wave in Henderson, 10km away in the other direction.

Thomas feels there is the need for a pool in central west Auckland.

“We have some land within New Lynn, but we also know there's potential for Avondale,” she said.

“Realistically, it needs to be either New Lynn or Avondale, because it needs to be next to one of the major transport links for people to get there.”

“The timeline for the construction of the pool at the moment is that it would start in 2028 but there's been money already put aside for a detailed business case, and the local board is looking at putting aside $100,000 in the next financial year, from july 2025, to investigate which would be the best site.”

Once the regeneration work is done, the CRL opens and people realise they can get a train from Avondale station to downtown in 15 minutes, there is the risk that Avondale could be the next Ponsonby, with the current communities priced out of living there. But Amosa doesn’t feel that will be the case.

“We're super aware of how gentrification naturally works,” he said.

“There's enough in Avondale for it to retain its character. I'm pretty confident that we won't totally wash everything out.

“There's a lot of state housing and private housing. I know that there's a possibility, but I think we'll retain our character. People like the mix, the diversity, the different cultures, the different socio economic backgrounds here.”

But the biggest question of all about Avondale’s future is what will happen to Dale the Spider.

The iconic statue was removed in October to make way for the building work after spending 22 years towering above the town centre.

Dale is owned by the Avondale Business Association and is currently in storage. The ABA is looking to get him cleaned up and then relocate the giant spider to a new home.

“It was one of those love/hate things, but it's become an urban icon for Avondale,” Amosa said.

“That's one of the main reasons we decided to retain it. We did have people who didn't want it to be around here, for to it go and be part of the changing face of Avondale as well as wanting everything new and bright.

“But I'm really aware that it's part of retaining that diversity is also retaining things that mean a lot to the people already here.”