Empty shops, $200m lost, 1200 jobs gone: Report details Hamilton CBD downturn

Tuesday, 7 July 2026

A new report has revealed how bad Hamilton’s city centre businesses had it last year, with 1200 jobs lost and the number of empty shops at its highest rate in a decade.

According to Hamilton City Council’s 2025 Hamilton Annual Economic Report, the central city experienced a Gross Domestic Product contraction of nearly $200 million and a loss of almost 1200 filled jobs, primarily driven by declines in the public administration and safety sectors.

Despite the “hell of a tough time”, Acting Mayor Geoff Taylor says the commercial development going on points to a brighter future.

Hamilton Central Business Association general manager Vanessa Williams agrees that hospitality and retail business, in particular, have had it “pretty tough”, but she’s positive that signs of a turnaround are here.

“Just talking to some businesses around the town, there has been talk of it feeling just a little bit more optimistic, even if that's not necessarily translating into economic winds at the moment.’’

However, the loss of jobs brought on from a combination of business closures and downsizing among the government sector was noticeable, Williams told the Waikato Times.

City centre retailer Barry Radford agrees.

“The CBD has become increasingly reliant on weekday office workers, while the number of people coming into the city specifically to shop has declined significantly.

“The loss of jobs, reduced economic activity and changing consumer habits have created a challenging environment where many retailers are simply fighting to survive.”

Bringing more events to the CBD will help, Radford says.

“Without sustained activation, there is a real risk that Hamilton will continue to expand around the edges while its city centre loses its vitality.”

Over the year, the central city had 463 stores overall, a decrease of three stores on 2024.

Despite these “short-term losses”, the report says historical data indicates that long-term employment growth in the central city continues to outpace both city-wide and national averages.

The central city brought in $803m in card spending in 2025 - up 2.7% ($21m), but well below the 4.6% rise noted at sub-regional centres Chartwell Square and The Base.

Citywide, card spending was up $53m (1.8%).

The retail vacancy rate rose to 10.5%, the highest level recorded in ten years. Though 'Prime grade' retail spaces noted a slight improvement in occupancy, lower-tier 'D grade' spaces saw vacancies climb to 18.7%.

Acting mayor and the council’s central city revitalisation sub-committee chair Geoff Taylor notes although businesses fell by 12% there were still 350 more than five years ago, indicating that development is occurring.

Citywide, there was a net gain of 171 businesses.

However, he isn’t sugar coating the task ahead.

“Hospitality traders would agree it’s been a hell of a tough time. People were visiting less frequently and spending less.

“It’s also concerning that there has been little growth in people living in the central city, essentially because there is so little development of new central city housing occurring. Hopefully as the economy improves that will soon turn around.

“The big thing that makes me optimistic is the amount of commercial development still going on in the CBD.’’

Only one new building was consented in 2025—the $2 million Hamilton Orthopaedic building—but refurbishment activity reached $72m (60% of the whole of the city).

“The amount of investment going on shows the faith and belief investors have in the CBD – if you think about the $80 million BNZ Theatre, the new Pullman Hotel, Union Square and the 25 storey hotel planned by Templeton by the river - That’s why I’m so optimistic about the CBD’s long term future.’’

Taylor says while some effects on the economy like the war in the Middle East are out of the council’s control, it was able to focus on creating a supportive environment to give CBD businesses the best chance of success.

“That’s why we’ve boosted budgets for cleaning and maintenance and are putting in a far more user friendly and parking regime.

“In response to concerns about safety, we are putting some really exciting amenity lighting in Garden Place and Civic Square before Christmas and there is more similar lighting planned for other parts of the CBD which I think will make a real impact.”

Despite the challenging year, the area remains unquestionably the city’s economic engine room, generating approximately $4.3 billion annually, accounting for a quarter of Hamilton’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

It contains 15% of the city’s businesses, and provides 21% of its jobs (23,633).

Taken on a citywide basis the report shows Hamilton's GDP increased $100m to $17.1 billion, which resulted in an economic growth rate of 0.5%, slightly above the national growth rate of 0.4%.