Precinct chief executive Scott Pritchard says the maximum allowable height for the site is 200m but he is building only up to 180m. Yes, waterfront and harbour views will most certainly be blocked by a tower that tall on what is now only a few levels and Quay West apartment owners will suffer.
Don't forget shading, wind effects and the public land grab by the commercial landlord: how awful to lose the 1892sq m of council-owned Queen Elizabeth Square. All public land should surely stay public, surely.
Enough moaning?
Now for the positives. To be a world-class city, we need world-class buildings and architects Warren and Mahoney of Auckland, San Francisco's Woods Baggot and Melbourne's NH Architecture are certainly capable of delivering that. The bold curtain glass wall is an audacious statement and complements other surrounding towers, and the tower is said to reference the Waitemata, so more us than the Sydney-cloned PwC tower.
Even if you don't think we need the City Rail Link, Precinct's deal struck with Auckland Council ensures the tunnels can be built, regardless of Len's funding issue.
Do you love that volcano spouting fire and water in the square, or does it look ridiculous? Will you be sad to lose the area outside Whitcoulls' back door and the arse end of the Life Pharmacy, or would you prefer shops, cafes, bars and restaurants? For buses and the road through the area's heart to vanish? Then it could be a real square, a people place. That's all part of the plan.
With people flooding into Auckland from overseas and elsewhere in New Zealand, the existing 13,000sq m mall expands to 20,000sq m. Auckland CBD's workforce has grown by 16,000 people since 2010 and demand for offices and shops has risen sharply.
Grand visions like this tower will always have their critics and promoters but one thing is for sure - we're looking more to our CBD, the sea and hopefully a new level of built sophistication in this ever-changing, ever-growing grand statement of a stunning waterfront city.
