Gateway to growth: North-West Auckland’s new industrial precinct
Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Auckland’s largest new greenfield industrial development north of the airport has officially opened, and it’s evidence of how private investment drives economic growth, the Infrastructure Minister says.
The 46-hectare Spedding Industrial precinct in Whenuapai is the only major new industrial precinct to open in the North or West of Auckland in the last 15 years, and is expected to generate thousands of jobs.
Made up of 30 large-scale industrial sites suited to logistics, manufacturing, and service industries, it is built on farmland the developer, Oyster Capital, bought for $68 million.
It was opened on Tuesday following completion of the extension of Spedding Rd which connects State Highway 16 and State Highway 18 directly through the precinct, and unlocks access to key arterial routes.
Read more:
Reimagining retirement: Inside Oceania’s newest, future-ready village
Precinct and Singaporeans snap up Auckland’s ASB North Wharf for $205 million
The road connection is part of nine significant transport upgrades made by Oyster as part of its $56m infrastructure investment in the area.
It has previously been reported that the total cost of the development would be about $200m.
At the opening, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said it was a perfect demonstration of public infrastructure investment supporting private capital to create roads, jobs and growth.
“Growth is not just a kind of economic concept. Growth means jobs, it means higher wages, it means prosperity, it means higher living standards.
“For the last 20 years or so, we haven't grown quickly enough as a country and that's why, as a government, we've made it our top priority to get the engine room of the economy growing again.”
That’s why it was good to visit developments, such as the new precinct, and see the growth actually happening in Auckland, he said.
“The northwest of Auckland is going to be home to tens of thousands more people over the decades ahead. Here in the Northwest, and down in the south too, in Drury, we're building entirely new cities.
“But as a government we’ve been thinking about how we can be better partners in all of these sorts of endeavours - to make sure developers like Oyster can deploy private capital to drive jobs and growth.”
The government had not done a very good job on the planning, funding and coordination side of this, and that was why it had created a new agency, the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport, Bishop said.
“It’s so that central government can be a much better partner and the enabler and deliverer of all of the things that are required to get large-scale projects like this away efficiently and effectively.
“There's a long way to go, a lot of work to do, but we're on the journey we need to develop deeper public private relationships so we can support industrial and urban and commercial development.”
The Spedding precinct, and what it would mean for the companies that would be set up there and the people who would work there, was the practical manifestation of growth, he said.
Oyster Capital director Cameron Wilson said industrial land might not be glamorous but it was essential, and the opening of the precinct and the road extension was the beginning of a new era for the north-west.
The infrastructure unlocked one of Auckland’s most strategically located industrial areas and laid the foundation for high-quality businesses to establish themselves in a location designed for growth, he said.
“But precincts do more than provide warehousing and logistics. They must continue to support the people who belong here.
“Infrastructure, capacity, power, access and transport links matter, but what matters most is certainty - in business, in investment, and in growth. That’s what this precinct is designed to provide.”
The precinct was being developed in three stages, and Oyster had sold 80% of the lots in stage one and about 50% of the stage two lots.
Stage three was now being released on to the market, and was getting good traction, Wilson told The Post.
Several businesses that had purchased lots in stage one, including bus company Tranzit, appliance and electronics distributor CDB Group, and Midpoint Investments, were already building, he said.
Another purchaser, Property For Industry, was established on site and was due to start building 10,000 sqm of flexi-warehouse space next month.
“It has been a long process, going back to 2013, but Spedding Industrial is not speculative - it is now live,” Wilson said.
“We’ve had up to 250 people building on site to date and now with the development above ground starting, and 200,000 square meters of gross floor area to be built, many more jobs will come with that.
“And once completed, depending on the end users, it could host about 2000 jobs. It just depends on what the end users are doing. If it’s storage, not many. If it’s manufacturing, many.”
The precinct built on Oyster’s long‑term commitment to the north‑west, following the development of a 1000‑home residential community nearby, he added.
Before it developed the precinct Oyster Capital focused on residential land projects, including big developments in Drury and Beachlands.