June 9, 2020

NZ Urban Development news from the media | 3 June 2020 | Precinct Properties commits to new $90m building on Bowen Campus after securing tenants

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Hi *|FNAME|*, Please find below Urban Development News from the media from the week of 9 June 2020.

Provided by Rockhopper Development Advisory, a member of:

Precinct Properties commits to new $90m building on Bowen Campus after securing tenants

Big property owner Precinct Properties will shortly start the construction of a new $90.2 million earthquake-resilient building at Bowen Campus, near Parliament, in Wellington.

Precinct, listed on the New Zealand sharemarket, announced the decision to start development after securing tenants for about three quarters of the lettable space. They include big accounting company EY and huge Japanese multinational Fujitsu.

The company made the announcement as it nears completion of the huge $700m Commercial Bay office, retail and hospitality development on Auckland's waterfront.

The new building will be situated at 40 Bowen St and will be the first of a pair of buildings planned for the site. It will total 10,049 square metres and consist of 1200–1700 sqm of office floor plates across six levels.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121718362/precinct-properties-commits-to-new-90m-building-on-bowen-campus-after-securing-tenants

No cost blowouts over Auckland light rail, says bidder NZ Infra

The venture bidding for light rail in Auckland remains committed to the project despite Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters saying it has no immediate future.

Labour promise light rail to run from the CBD to the airport, and from the CBD to the West Auckland, within 10 years.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised to build light rail to Mt Roskill within four years.

But the project has been plagued by delays, and has been put on hold while the Government grapples with the Covid crisis.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503378&objectid=12336167

‘Plan B’ for Transmission Gully

The New Zealand Transport Agency appears to be planning for a future where Transmission Gully could go ahead with a different set of builders

NZTA has quietly approached several contractors to see if they would be able to take over sections of Transmission Gully if negotiations fall flat.

The $1 billion roading project is being constructed by a public-private partnership between NZTA and the Wellington Gateway Partnership.

It has been beset by delays despite having been scheduled to open in April 2020. Sources close to the project have alleged issues with the road base and subsoil of the project that mean it may not open until 2022.

Several sources have confirmed contractors in the Wellington region have been approached by NZTA to complete different sections of the road.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/06/08/1218944/plan-b-for-transmission-gully

Drop in number of new homes consented

The number of new homes consented in April 2020 was nearly 17 percent lower than in April 2019, Stats NZ said today.

This was the biggest percentage fall in monthly consents compared with the same month in the previous year since July 2011.

A total of 2,168 new homes were consented in April, bringing the number of new homes consented in the April 2020 year to 37,180. This was slightly down from the February 2020 year, which produced a 45-year record of 37,882 new homes consented.

https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/drop-in-number-of-new-homes-consented