The planned new Beca offices at 124 Halsey St, Wynyard Quarter. Photo / Supplied
The planned new Beca offices at 124 Halsey St, Wynyard Quarter. Photo / Supplied
More than 1000 people working for New Zealand's biggest engineering and consulting firm will leave their global headquarters in Auckland and move to the Wynyard Quarter.
The locally-owned Beca, with around 3800 employees in 23 offices globally, announced this morning it will lease new five-level 14,000sq m offices from NZX-listed Precinct Properties.
Beca chief executive Greg Lowe said the business would move from the Pitt St multi-level building to floors spanning interconnected new buildings at 124 Halsey St and neighbouring 117 Pakenham St on the waterfront.
Construction of both new buildings is underway at the foundation stage. Hawkins Construction is working there.
The Pakenham St site was the scene of an emergency recently when five workers were injured after a gas explosion due to a leaking gas cylinder.
Beca hopes to move around February 2025 and will also get naming rights to the new 124 Halsey St. About 1300 people will move from Pitt St.
Kiwi Property Group was reported in 2010 as owning the Pitt St headquarters, across the intersection to the Southern Motorway onramps the end of Hobson St.
The 17,229sq m 10-level grey building was developed in 1990 and occupied for many years by the Auckland Regional Council.
Beca House at 21 Pitt St. The business occupied it for more than a decade. Photo / Google Maps
It had a debating chamber and civil defence emergency bunker. But local body amalgamation last decade spelt an end to the ARC and Beca moved from 132 Vincent St to the much larger block.
"Our team are incredibly excited about relocating to Wynyard Quarter," Lowe said.
"The broader innovation precinct reflects what our business represents, and the building itself will allow for better collaboration and flexibility for our team as well as providing a range of onsite amenities to support our staff and clients."
The new building will target a 6-star green building rating and is due to be finished by early 2025.
Precinct told the stock exchange about its leasing deal, saying Beca would occupy around 14,000sq m of one of the last remaining waterfront locations in Wynyard Quarter.
The business has agreed to lease five contiguous office floors across the new 124 Halsey Street and 117 Pakenham St. Those floors are up 2900sq m each.
Precinct said the new building at 117 Pakenham St is seven floors so Beca will not lease two of those.
Beca will also have access to a shared workspace and events facility within the adjacent Flowers Building.
The building at 21 Pitt St is owned by private interests: Viewmont Orchards controlled by Fendalton-based Miles and Peggy Middleton, property records show.
In 2012, the Herald reported Christchurch landlord and earthquake-hit investor Miles Middleton paid $55 million for the ex-Vodafone, ex-Auckland Regional Council headquarters.
Middleton took insurance proceeds from Christchurch buildings and poured them into the high-profile commercial investment, buying Beca House at 21 Pitt St.
His four Christchurch high-rises included the Westpac and DTZ buildings in the City Mall which have all been demolished and some time ago, he indicated he was considering investing insurance proceeds in either Auckland or Australia.
Kiwi Income Properties sold the block at a 2 per cent premium to the valuation of $54 million. The deal reflected an initial yield of 8 per cent and settlement is due July 2. The sale was brokered by CB Richard Ellis.
At the time, Chris Dibble who was then Jones Lang LaSalle associate research director, said the deal showed the market turning.
"The investment sector is heating up as another $50 million-plus transaction is announced in a matter of weeks. The 8 per cent initial yield is quite firm which will be pleasing for Kiwi and their shareholders," Dibble said 10 years ago.
"This may lead to one of the strongest years of commercial real estate transactions which has been depressed since 2008," he said, predicting sales of about $1.5 billion of commercial office, retail and industrial real estate.
