It is just a structural steel skeleton on Taurikura Dr at the moment.
But by April next year, Stage 2 of Tauranga Crossing will be transformed into two-storeys of further shopping and dining options and a six-screen cinema complex.
Scaffolding stands where a six-screen cinema with more than 1000 seats and a 24m-wide Vmax screen will eventually be.
About 30,000 cubic metres of concrete is being poured where people will soon be able to dine, shop and get their hair done.
It is just a structural steel skeleton on Taurikura Dr at the moment. But by April next year, Stage 2 of Tauranga Crossing will be transformed into two storeys of shopping and dining options and a six-screen cinema complex.
The Bay of Plenty Times got a first look at Stage 2 of the Tauranga Crossing shopping complex yesterday.
Tauranga Crossing chief executive Steve Lewis said the first stage of the mall would be opened in October, with the entire Stage 2 development on track to be completed by April 2019.
Lewis said the Farmers building in the lifestyle centre across the road from the main complex was running two months ahead of schedule and would be open in September.
"We are very happy with the progress," Lewis said. "Our entertainment precinct is going to be something very unique and very, very special."
Hawkins central region area manager Peter McCawe (left) and Tauranga Crossing chief executive Steve Lewis. Photo / John Borren
The first phase of the development at the Tauriko retail hub opened in 2016 and included stores such as Pak'n'Save, The Warehouse, Noel Leeming and Warehouse Stationery on 17,500sq m of land.
Lewis said Stage 2 would cover another 18,000sq m of land - and with the 23,000sq m of land for Gilmours, Bed Bath & Beyond and Farmers in the lifestyle centre across the road - the entire development will span about 45,000sq m.
A further 12,000sq m was planned to be developed for Stage 3 in the next few years, but Lewis did not know what that would include.
He said the total investment in Stage 2 was more than $150 million which made Tauranga Crossing the largest building project in the Bay of Plenty.
"It is going to be a full range shopping centre. So it is a one-stop shop."
Lewis said the number of cars accessing Tauranga Crossing had increased since the first stage had opened two years ago and he believed the complex would be a massive drawcard for potential home buyers.
"Our research tells us that the catchment for a centre of this scale will stretch down to Rotorua and Matamata," he said. "There will be a pull from all over the Bay of Plenty and into the east Waikato."
A bird's-eye view of the Tauranga Crossing shopping complex under construction. Photo / John Borren
Hawkins project director Martin Kernighan said there would be about 5000 people working on the project from September 2016 to April 2019.
"We have got guys coming in from Auckland and Hamilton," he said.
Hawkins central region area manager Peter McCawe said the Tauranga Crossing development was twice the size of a normal project.
Nine building consents worth nearly $60m had been issued for Stage 2A of the Tauranga Crossing development from June 2017 to May 2018, according to Priority One's report.
Priority One communications and projects manager Annie Hill said strong growth in retail developments was a good indicator of economic growth as well as investor confidence.
"It shows the popularity of Tauranga as a place in which to live and work and also the unparalleled growth in jobs that we have experienced over the last few years," she said.
A sneak peak of the construction. Photo / Supplied
PROJECT FACTS: ● Foundations, floors and ceiling installations of the enclosed mall take shape ● More than 3000 tonnes of steel used throughout the entire development ● Over 2200 tonnes used in Stage 2 alone, that's more structural steel than was used to construct Auckland's Sky Tower ● Close to 250 tradies are working on site ● A further 250 shopfitters will join the site once retailers and restaurateurs have been confirmed ● Up to four cranes on site at any point ● 30,000 cubic metres of concrete being laid ● 25,000 square metres of roofing being fitted ● Stage 2 will add a further 18,000 square metres of trading space ● Event Cinema with the only Vmax screen in the Bay of Plenty ● Jobs created once complete: Up to 1000 retail and restaurant jobs
