Set for completion by April, the Private Offices by Precinct offer 360 degree views of Auckland's CBD and the Waitemata Harbour. Photo / Michael Craig
Set for completion by April, the Private Offices by Precinct offer 360 degree views of Auckland's CBD and the Waitemata Harbour. Photo / Michael Craig
Perched on the waterfront and 180m into the sky, it might just be the best office space in Auckland.
And it's being offered not to the largest law firms or wealthiest investment banks, but to small or medium-sized companies who would otherwise struggle to get a foothold in a primeCBD location.
Expected to be available in April, Private Offices by Precinct will be the highest office space in New Zealand. Located on the 36th floor of the 39-storey PwC Tower at Commercial Bay, it will have 360 degree views of Auckland, stretching as far as the Waitakere Ranges in the west and out to the islands of the Hauraki Gulf in the east.
Precinct Properties CEO Scott Pritchard said this kind of commercial real estate was usually only available to large companies of 100 employees or more on long-term leases. But the five available office spaces - one of which has been snapped up - would instead be offered to businesses of up to 30 staff.
"At one end, you've got big guys who take long-term leases and whole floors of buildings. At the other end, co-working spaces which offer a single desk on a month-by-month basis. What we're building here is in the middle."
Still in the construction phase, the offices will be fitted out in luxury furnishings, which will stay in place as tenancies change.
"Everything is provided," Pritchard said. "They can sign up for a lease of two or three or four years. They walk in, and can start operating."
Expected to be completed by April, the PwC tower at Commercial Bay is one of three large skyscrapers which will change Auckland's skyline over the next few years. Photo / Michael Craig
The offices would be available for around $800-$850 per sq m, which was higher than typical office rent in Auckland because the offices were fully furnished and included access to a shared boardroom. Unfurnished offices in the PwC tower were going for $700 per sq m.
On the waterfront side, the offices will have slanted glass which rises up into a rake-like design at the top of the tower. Some of the building's high-rise elevators will be glass-walled and provide a view over the eastern suburbs and the harbour. Those who suffer from vertigo will be able to take a different lift, Pritchard said.
An artist's impression of the new offices on the 36th floor of the PwC tower at Commercial Bay. Photo / Supplied
The new office space at Commercial Bay reflects the changing nature of work in New Zealand. Workplaces not only have more flexible working hours and locations, but are likely to fluctuate in numbers and have casual contractors.
"We've seen a lot of small companies - mostly but not all tech companies - and you've got to be able to cater for their growth," Pritchard said.
"A lot of them are really reluctant to say 'Yeah I'll take 200 or 300sq m for 10 years' because they don't know what size they're going to be in six months, in 12 months.
Precinct Properties CEO Scott Pritchard says it is rare for a premium space to be available to small firms on a shorter lease - but that's what businesses are now demanding. Photo / Michael Craig
"In a perfect world, they might start in a co-working space with a person and a desk on a monthly basis. And then grow in that environment, and they might get to 20 people, then into a private suite or private office here, then they might grow a bit more and we can offer them a more long-term solution.
"That's what we're trying to cater for."
The view from the offices at night, looking out over the Auckland Ferry Terminal and out to Rangitoto Island. Photo / Supplied
The other appeal of the site is the access to amenities. When the $1 billion Commercial Bay development is completed, it will include 120 shops and 40 eating and drinks spots. It is the beginning and the end of the line for trains, buses and ferries.
The PwC tower is one of three large skyscrapers which will transform Auckland's skyline in the next three or four years. The 187m Seascape building on Customs St will be the highest residential building in the country when completed in 2022, and the 178m Pacifica apartments are also being built a few blocks away.
