Countdown secures Commercial Bay site, set to open first of small Metro stores
Supermarket Countdown has secured a site at the Commercial Bay shopping and commercial precinct in downtown Auckland.
The supermarket will open its first of a planned string of smaller-format stores at the bottom of the PwC tower in December. The store, which will focus on the needs of the city-centre customer, will have kombucha and cold brew coffee on tap, a barista for takeaway coffee and offer food-to-go options.
Wellingtonians bringing village living to the city through co-housing initiative
Hannah and Thomas Schickedanz are members of the Wellington co-housing group The Urban Habitat Collective who hope to transform a Mount Cook sheet metal working site into an "urban village".
After forming about 18 months ago the development has moved quickly - the group secured their site in April, it has grown from eight to about 16 households, finalised its legal structure, are testing the site's soil and are now deep into designing the complex ahead of applying for consent, which they hope to do in mid 2020.