Matthew Bai
This Week In Planning (TWIP) is a weekly segment where we analyze notable events to have taken place in New Zealand’s “Planning Sphere” over the preceding week.
The topics in this week’s installment include updates to the CRL program, updates to Auckland’s tram program, the bankruptcy of Matrix Homes, Infrastructure announcements in Queenstown, Wynyard Quarter updates, Highbury Mall, and a new skyscraper for Auckland’s CBD.
Transport:
This week started with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff announcing a major expansion of Auckland’s CRL project. Goff said: “New estimates predict that CRL stations need to cope with the capacity of 54,000 passengers an hour at peak rather than the original estimates of 36,000, which would’ve reached capacity only 10 years after opening.
“On this basis, City Rail Link Limited believes that stations should be built to cater for nine-carriage trains rather than six, with longer platforms and, in the case of the Karangahape Road Station, it will require a second entrance at Beresford Square”.
According to City Planning NZ Transportation Editor Malcolm McCracken, “future-proofing the tunnels for extra capacity should save money in the long term. Combined with the Light Rail and Bus improvements in the CBD should delay the need for another project of the CRL’s scale. However, the council is already at their debt ceiling and it is unclear how the extra costs will be funded. The agreement is for a 50-50 share of the costs with the central government, so it is possible other projects could face delays due to this.”
On Thursday, July 26, Auckland Council and the Government agreed to increase investment into the City Rail Link at the cost of “low hundreds of millions”, citing future proofing and reduced future disruptions as factors which prompted the decision.
Exact details regarding the expansion have not been announced due to commercial sensitivities, however, Goff confirmed the expanded platforms will increase capacity from the originally proposed 36,000 passengers per hour to 56,000 passengers per hour.
This week also saw NZTA confirming the option of running trams from Pt Chevalier to Karangahape Rd, where they could join a second tram line from the CBD to the airport at the intersection with Queen St.
A second option is to run trams all the way to the city along the northwestern motorway and thread dual lines through or around Spaghetti Junction to the CBD.
Work between NZTA and Auckland Transport is in the “very early stages of investigating light rail alignment options for the city centre to northwest route”, according to a spokesman.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford declined to comment about the Pt Chevalier option but said light rail not only provides high-quality rapid transit but is a magnet for investment in urban development.
Setbacks for Prefabrication:
Sean Murrie’s prefabrication firm Matrix Homes announced this week that the company is now in receivership, owing creditors over $2 million dollars. According to Murrie “I’m gutted. I did everything I could to stop it happening, working very hard for a very long time. I could not secure the investment I needed. It was a comparatively minor amount and the shareholders did all they could”.
He cited a lack of orders, as well as a restrictive planning regime as reasons for the company’s downfall. “It’s a real shame. The rules were stacked against what we were doing. It’s just taken too long. The Unitary Plan should have been done ages ago. I’m not trying to blame anyone for anything. It’s just these things should have been quicker”.
Queenstown infrastructure update:
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford confirmed $52 million of 10-year interest-free loans to Queenstown Lakes District Council. The aim of these loans is to enable the building of 1850 houses in the Kingston township and new greenfield sites in Quail Rise South on the Frankton Flats.
Mr. Twyford said: “The infrastructure at Kingston to support new housing includes new water supply and sewage treatment plants”.
“There will also be a stormwater network infrastructure for the existing town and new development, along with the reticulation of water supply and wastewater to the existing area- this will support Kingston’s development as a more affordable housing location in easy reach of Queenstown”.
Development in Kingston will now be accelerated with the first of the 950 houses expected in 2020.
Wynyard Quarter News:
Viaduct Harbour Holdings Ltd has concluded the sale of an entire city block of nearly a hectare of land bounded by Beaumont St, Gaunt St, Daldy St and Pakenham St West in the rapidly developing Viaduct Quarter precinct.
The 9793 sqm parcel was sold to Goodman Group for $40.1 million and has concept plans for the construction of four mixed-use buildings of more than 45,000sq m on the site.
According to Vernon Tava, the site has district land use consent (DLUC) to:
*Provide car parking for more than 100 vehicles relating to an activity;
*DLUC for the provision of vehicle accesses with Defined Road Boundaries;
*DLUC to breach the requirement for on-site loading spaces to be provided, with none being provided for the proposed buildings on the southern side of the block; *DLUC for an IDP where there is a concurrent development control infringement to exceed maximum IDP site intensity and maximum parking;
*DLUC to permit the transfer of 3310m2 of GFA from the Sailor’s Corner site at 2 Westhaven Drive, being a Character Building located in QA3. The transfer of GFA to another quarter area in Wynyard Quarter is not provided for as an activity in the district plan;
*DLUC for greater than 100m2 of GFA for office, marine and fishing retail, retail, food and beverage, entertainment/gathering or education activities;
*DLUC to infringe the IDP maximum height as follows:
Building 1: proposed maximum height 27m where 25m plus 2m roof is permitted
Building 2: proposed maximum height 27m where 25m plus 2m roof / 31m is permitted
Building 3: proposed maximum height 35m where 31m is permitted
Building 4: proposed maximum height 35m where 31m is permitted
Building 6: proposed maximum height 27m where 25m plus 2m roof is permitted
Building 7: proposed maximum height 39m where 25m plus 2m roof is permitted
Building 8: proposed maximum height 31m where 25m plus 2m roof / 31m is permitted
Building 9: proposed maximum height 39m where 31m is permitted
Building 10: proposed maximum height 31m where 25m plus 2m roof / 31m is permitted
Highbury Mall Sold:
NZRPG this week announced the sale of Highbury Mall to Hong Kong based investors in a deal worth $40 million. NZRPG had previously proposed to construct a number of apartment buildings on the site, however the purchasers have no intention of carrying through this work. According to a NZRPG spokesperson, the company intends to focus its efforts on existing assets including Milford and Westgate.
Auckland CBD Skyscraper:
Following ICD’s $40 million purchase of the Federal Street Carpark from SkyCity, the company has enlisted five architecture firms – Woods Bagot, Cox Architect, Zaha Hadid, Elenberg Fraser and New Zealand-based Warren and Mahoney – to produce two concepts for a new skyscraper on the site.
According to ICD development manager Bobby Kennedy, architects were encouraged to abandon “black and white” planning rules to create a design statement in the centre of Auckland. Of the two proposals, one was to be fully compliant with AUP rules, while the other could go beyond the limitations imposed by the AUP.
Architects had been given rough guidance that the building should have 120 hotel rooms and 210 residential apartments, Kennedy said.
The site currently consists of a 7 level car parking building of 11,487 sqm on 1,641 sqm of land. Zoning rules permit a MTFAR of 1:13, suggesting any proposed building could contain up to 21,000 sqm of floor area.
UPDATE: Milford Apartment Scheme Revived
Shortly prior to TWIP going to publication, news came in that NZRPG is currently seeking amended resource consent for a scaled-down version of the previously delayed Milford Apartment project. According to NZRPG general manager, Campbell Babour “consent had been applied for a nine-level 60-unit block and instead of selling from $1.7m as was the case last year, prices might be nearer $1.5m”.
An exact start date for the project has yet to be announced, but Babour says it’s possible consent may be granted in the coming months, with construction commencing in 2019. We will continue to update this story as more details become available.