"Do we spend money on new seating at Mt Smart Stadium or does New Zealand need a new 50,000-seater stadium? It can only be in Auckland because of the economy of scale," says Hill. "We need to look at the capital expenditure going on with all the stadia and decide what is the most important project.
"The Auckland Zoo, MOTAT and Western Springs Park have been run separately — shouldn't we join them together and make it a family destination? The Auckland Art Gallery has the potential to be expanded," he says.
"Mana whenua expects a cultural centre where Aucklanders and visitors can have an authentic experience, and we need to advance that. A purpose-built performing arts centre for ballet, opera, orchestra and others has been through a consultation process and with the new Aotea Square station due to be opened a new precinct can be developed."
Auckland has attracted the Amazon Lord of the Ringsseries — the biggest television production ever made, with 2000 people involved — and to maintain this pace the film sector, with the Kumeu Film Studios and Auckland Film Studios at Henderson, needs to build additional facilities such as sound stages.
Hill says the Auckland Council has "a billion-dollar hole" and doesn't have the money to develop all these sorts of projects. They can be driven commercially and philanthropically.
"We need to set a plan which is more robust and work with the public and private sectors including government."
Auckland Unlimited, which now manages $1.5 billion of cultural heritage, sporting and performing arts assets, has set a target of attracting $500 million worth of investment into Auckland over the next three years.
Hill knows that attracting high net worth people with their businesses and contacts to Auckland is more important than ever because of the Covid pandemic. "It is difficult to get them in at the moment — and they won't until invest until they actually come and see.
"As we come out of Covid, we need to be careful that we don't miss the boat. People overseas have seen us going to concerts and we can't be smug about it. There is a lot of pent-up energy around the world and countries including Australia will be very aggressive in attracting investment."
Backing up the investment goal, Auckland Unlimited is determined to create an overall digital platform of all the activities taking place and tell the Auckland story.
"Aucklanders and visitors don't know how much is happening in the city," Hill says. "We are telling the story poorly — Wellington and other cities in New Zealand are doing it better, and Glasgow and Amsterdam are doing it really well."
In any year, there are more than 2500 event days across Auckland Unlimited venues and 1000 performing arts event days in Auckland Live venues. Some one million people visit the Auckland Zoo, Auckland Art Gallery and NZ Maritime Museum.
"Auckland has the opportunity to provide a stronger digital experience. For instance, we will continue to run cultural festivals, concerts and other events and drive the use of the RFA venues.
"But as well as holding the Lantern, Diwali, Pasifika and Tamaki Herenga Waka festivals over one weekend, we can build them into a permanent asset digitally.
"This online connection can celebrate the multicultural communities of Auckland, join them together and elevate their role in the city."
Hill says Auckland is a city of villages and people don't realise the extent of the rich history and activities. He is keen to develop key neighbourhoods and precincts that will activate the activity more efficiently and attract investment.
The key neighbourhoods can include Aotea Square, Western Springs, Tamaki redevelopment, Henderson film campus, Wynyard Quarter — and Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands as sustainable, high-value visitor destinations that offer a quality experience.
"Deep Tech" investment focus
Hill says Auckland Unlimited will take a more targeted view of attracting investment into "deep tech" that touches technology, advanced manufacturing and creative industries.
"We need to invent and develop stuff here and not just add technology to existing businesses.
"The America's Cup has proven we can develop cutting-edge global technology, and we need more Soul Machines (a world leader in humanising artificial intelligence to create digital people who can interact with customers in the workplace).
"We can develop an eco-system that links into universities, entrepreneurs and investors, and monetise the creative talent — that is critical for the Auckland and New Zealand economy," Hill says.
"The creative industry including film is now bigger than the wine sector and it creates high-value jobs."
Take gaming company Rocketwerkz, which has the backing of Chinese technology giant Tencent.
The Dunedin-based company has just opened an office for 60 staff in Auckland and it could afford the best view and location in town, the top floor of Commercial Bay at the bottom of Queen St.
"Rocketwerkz has drawn on students from the Media Design School, and Auckland Unlimited can tell the story and take a bit of risk — like Ateed did with GridAKL and Kumeu Film Studios — to be an early catalyst to make deep tech happen," Hill says.
Following the merger of Ateed and RFA, Auckland Unlimited has a target of saving $5 million a year from this July. "We will do this," says Hill. "But we have taken a hit by losing $14.7m from the Accommodation Provider Targeted Rates (it is presently under consultation for the council's Long-Term Plan).
"I'd like to think we can have the $5m reinvested in us. You don't have to spend it all on roads and debt reduction. We can achieve a bang for your buck by continuing to compete for international events, making full use of the facilities and promoting the Auckland brand to attract investment and visitors," he says.
What Auckland Unlimited owns and manages
Auckland Unlimited's purpose is to enrich cultural and economic life in Tāmaki Makaurau by creating and sharing experiences and opportunities. The newly-merged organisation has a wide range of facilities to make this happen:
Operations owned and operated: Aotea Centre, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland Zoo, Bruce Mason Centre (unit titles) and Killarney St car park, Mt Smart Stadium, North Harbour Stadium, The Civic Theatre, Western Springs Stadium, and New Zealand Maritime Museum.
Only operated: Aotea Square, Auckland Town Hall, Shed 10 and The Cloud on Queen's Wharf, Auckland Film Studios at Henderson, GridAKL (co-managed with Precinct Properties Limited) in Wynyard Quarter, Kumeu Film Studios
Owned but not operated: Viaduct Events Centre (leased to Emirates Team New Zealand), Spark Arena (long-term lease to asset manager).
Auckland Unlimited is the landowner for MOTAT and The Trusts Arena. It advises Auckland Council on levy setting and board appointments for MOTAT and Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Auckland Unlimited provides operational and/or capital funding to The Trusts Arena, Vodafone Events Centre, North Shore Events Centre, and Stardome Observatory and Planetarium.
