Ten years, 7000 workers - and Wynyard Quayside is nearly done

Sunday, 1 December 2024

An artist’s impression of Precinct Properties’ Wynyard Quayside development on completion.

The $500 million Wynyard Quarter innovation precinct is nearing completion, marking the culmination of one of New Zealand’s biggest commercial builds.

Wynyard Quayside is the third and final stage of Precinct Property’s development in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter. It is made up of three interconnected, multi-level buildings across neighbouring sites at 124 Halsey St and 117 Pakenham St on the city’s waterfront.

At project’s end, the different stages of the development will have created about 48,000 sqm of premium office space over five low-rise buildings, with the final stage set to contribute 20,000 sqm of that space.

Two eight-storey office blocks are set to open in February, with engineering consultancy giant Beca already signed up for about 15,000 sqm of space and naming rights.

But Pipiri Lane, a three-level, 1828 sqm timber building that will be leased to flexible workspace and events provider Generator is not as advanced, and is not scheduled to open until August next year.

Precinct Properties’ Scott Pritchard says masterplanned developments are about creating spaces that people are attracted to.

It’s been a 10 year journey for Precinct, but with the development on the home stretch, the company’s chief executive, Scott Pritchard, took the Sunday Star-Times on a tour of the Warren and Mahoney designed buildings.

On the day of the tour, it is warm and sunny, which serves to highlight the attractions of the precinct, and its location. The upper, glass-fronted floors offer spectacular, panoramic views of Waitemata Harbour and Auckland’s CBD.

It’s a view that illustrates just how much this part of the city has changed, and been regenerated over the last decade, Pritchard says.

Once an underused industrial site, what is now Wynyard Quarter is a lively urban environment made up of commercial, hospitality, residential and entertainment space. When complete, it will be home to about 25,000 workers and 3000 residents.

The Wynyard Quayside buildings are still a construction site, filled with piles of cables, pipes and timber, but Pritchard sat down amongst it all to talk about urban regeneration, development challenges, and the future of office space.

Ten years is a long time for a build, so how did the development unfold to get to this point?

On a masterplanned development, like this one or Commercial Bay, it’s necessary to take a helicopter view of the site and the surrounding area from the start.

Construction teams are still hard at work on Wynyard Quayside, which is due to open in February.

You need to think about how to make the best use of the land, how to work with neighbouring sites, and how to engineer the build to make a contribution to the city you are in.

The broader project was led by Eke Panuku, and by extension Auckland Council, and they provided a clear vision of what they wanted to see 10 years in the future. We responded to that vision, and what we pitched back then is what has come to life today.

The unique space we have built, right on the waterfront, is surrounded by wide laneways, and great amenities with more to come. We are about 500m from the CBD, but it feels like a completely different urban environment.

It has been all about creating spaces that people are attracted to, and which encourage community.

Achieving that comes down to the upfront planning, and to developers being held to account to deliver for the city. So it’s a big tick for Auckland Council, which has done well on developments like this and Britomart.

For us to get to this point, we’ve built in three distinct stages, and had about 7000 workers on our sites over that time.

What are the challenges you encountered, and what have you learned along the way?

Wide laneways and repurposed heritage buildings are an integral part of the Wynyard Quayside development.

The biggest challenge has been the increase in significant construction costs over the last four years. Along the way, there’s been a scarcity of resources, and high demand. And that has put the sector under a lot of pressure.

Covid didn’t help either. We are largely through that now, but both Commercial Bay and this development were impacted by it. As a business, we had the benefit of good, long-standing partnerships, and that helped us get through.

But our key takeaways from the project are not tied to those challenges, they are broader.

One is that creating community is key to big, mixed-used projects, so the space you develop needs to cultivate that to attract people.

Another is that you need to have ownership of the ground floor plane because then you have more influence over the amenities, the landscaping, the greenery, and the first impression created.

Finally, when you are building on this scale, you need economies of scale, and to keep design simple so costs are manageable. But while keeping the design simple, you still need to produce architecture that contributes to the city you are building in. We’ve finessed our ability to do that.

How environmentally friendly are the precinct’s buildings?

The buildings are being constructed to a 6 Green Star rating, and are highly sustainable, Pritchard says.

The three new buildings are being constructed to a 6-star Green Star rating, and to 5-star NABERS NZ certification. This makes the buildings highly sustainable.

Based on learnings from our repurposing of the historic Mason Brothers warehouse earlier in the development, Wynyard Quayside will use about 35% less energy and 20% less water due to rainwater harvesting. It also has solar roof panels, and electric vehicle charging stations.

Another old building, the Halsey Traders store, is being refurbished, and incorporated into the precinct. In reference to the repurposed buildings, and the history of the area, bricks have been used on the exterior of buildings throughout the development.

Pipiri Lane - which will have a mix of private offices, co-working space, meeting rooms, and a 500 person function space - is being built from timber, and is as sustainable as you can get without repurposing.

Timber is a new material in this space, and it can substantially reduce embodied carbon, as well as waste in the construction phase. It also helps to create a unique looking building, and a healthier built environment.

Is it still possible for companies to lease space at Wynyard Quayside?

While Beca, the anchor tenant, will be moving over 1000 of its staff from its old Pitt St headquarters into the space it has leased, there is still about 5000 sqm of office space available to lease. That remaining space can accommodate about 500 people.

An artist’s impression of the Wynyard Quayside development from the street.

But it is the last commercial office space available on the waterfront in Wynyard Quarter, and I’m confident we’ll easily lease the space left.

Most CEOs are now open about productivity being greater when more people are in the office. Premium office space and amenities like this precinct gets the workforce into the office, whereas it is difficult to get staff into B- and C-grade office space.

If a company wants to encourage staff to return to the office, it pays for them to upgrade their workspace, and we are seeing a flight to quality across our portfolio, and in the sector globally. That trend is not going to change.

At the same time, office property values have dropped about 15% (from peak to trough), and while cost increases have slowed, they are still going up. That means tighter margins for developments, and it translates to less new office space in the pipeline.

So while prime grade real estate is sought after, it’s largely full, and there’s not much new stock coming through. It makes the space that is available desirable. Companies looking to upgrade should take notice of that, and grab it while they can because they won’t have many options going forward.

What’s your outlook for the future?

Generally, the outlook for the economy and the market seems a bit more positive going forward.

But for Precinct, we are excited about the grand opening of these buildings in just three months. The best bit of what we do is when occupants move in and all the hard work comes to life. And when staff work more productively because they like being in the building we’ve created, that's amazing.

Another big focus is the Downtown Carpark development. The agreement is fully unconditional now, resource consent has been lodged, and we are in the middle of the design phase. So it’s starting to come to life.

These projects are all about making sure the buildings being developed for our city fit into the surrounding environment to the benefit of the city, and help contribute to a vibrant community.