NZ Urban Development news from the media | 29 January | IHG is switching to its new "voco" brand for a 200-room central Auckland hotel

IHG is switching to its new "voco" brand for a 200-room central Auckland hotel

Global hotel operator IHG is switching to its new "voco" brand - unstuffy but professional service - and dropping its "wellness experience" EVEN brand for an under construction 200-room central Auckland hotel.

It announced in mid 2017 the hotel to be built at the corner of Albert and Wyndham streets would be branded EVEN, offering "a holistic wellness experience". 

Now a franchise agreement between IHG and the hotel's Australian developer Pro-invest will brand the hotel IHG's new "voco" brand - where they combine "character and quality to create unstuffy hotels with welcoming hosts". 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/118915786/global-hotel-operator-ihg-drops-one-brand-for-another-for-big-auckland-hotel-under-construction

Wellingtons zebra building faces new life as long-term accommodation

People visiting Wellington for business or pleasure are looking for places to stay that can cater to them for longer. 

And developers are seeing a gap in some of Wellington's central suburbs for this - with The Wellington Company purchasing Wild Zebra Backpackers on Te Aro's Tory St for $7.5 million and choosing to convert it into a hotel for medium to long-term stays. 

Since the end of 2019, construction workers have been preparing the zebra-printed building for change. They have been ripping up carpet and getting rid of doors, bathrooms and walls - markers of its hostel history. 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/118950860/wellingtons-zebra-building-faces-new-life-as-longterm-accommodation

Auckland monthly housing update, January 2020

A summary of statistics for housing in Auckland January highlights:

• 1120 dwellings were consented in November 2019.
• In the year ending November 2019, 14,866 dwellings were consented in the region.
• 54 per cent of new dwellings consented in November 2019 were houses, 12 per cent were apartments and 34 per cent were townhouses, flats, units, retirement village units, or other types of attached dwellings.

http://www.knowledgeauckland.org.nz/assets/publications/Auckland-monthly-housing-update-01January-2020.pdf