April 7, 2020

NZ Urban Development news from the media | 7 April | Government seeks 'shovel-ready' infrastructure projects

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Hi *|FNAME|*, Please find below Urban Development News from the media from the week of 7 April 2020.

Provided by Rockhopper Development Advisory, a member of:

Government seeks 'shovel-ready' infrastructure projects

The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say.

The Infrastructure Industry Reference Group, to be headed by Crown Infrastructure Partners chairman Mark Binns, will put forward to Ministers projects from the private and public sector that are ‘shovel-ready’ or likely to be within six months.

These new projects will be in addition to and build on the Government’s $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme and existing Provincial Growth Fund infrastructure investments.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-seeks-infrastructure-projects

Auckland Council welcomes package to stimulate economic recovery

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says the city is ready and enthusiastic about promoting infrastructure projects to assist the country to recover quickly from the COVID-19 induced recession.

“The impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown of the country will, as elsewhere in the world, have a dramatically negative impact on jobs and business,” he says.

“As was the case in the 1930s in New Zealand, infrastructure projects with long-term benefits for the country can be used to stimulate the economy with a multiplier effect for job recovery. With a backlog of infrastructure projects which lagged behind and have constricted growth in Auckland, we can provide Ministers with projects that can get off the ground quickly.

https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/articles/news/2020/03/council-welcomes-package/

Auckland Council gives developer Asset Plus more time to raise millions of dollars

Auckland Council has given commercial property developer Asset Plus more time to raise funding and get shareholder approval to build a $115 million office building in Albany with council as anchor tenant.

Asset Plus said Auckland Council, which will lease almost two-thirds of the new building, had agreed "to extend the satisfaction date for the funding and shareholder approval condition to July 31, 2020".

The agreement could be extended again to October 30 if both parties agreed, Asset Plus told its shareholders through a notice to the New Zealand Stock Exchange.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/120667153/auckland-council-gives-developer-asset-plus-more-time-to-raise-millions-of-dollars

Home building plans near 38,000 a year

The annual number of new homes consented was 37,882 for the year ended February 2020, the highest since the mid-1970s, Stats NZ said today.

The number of new homes consented was up 3,620 from the same period in 2019, a rise of 11 percent.

“The number of new homes consented in the February 2020 year is the highest in about 45 years, boosted by more new homes for Auckland,” construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

A total of 14,854 new homes were consented in Auckland in the February 2020 year, just over 1,000 more than in the previous February year.

https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/home-building-plans-near-38000-a-year