Focus: highly-anticipated rooftop dining terrace open at Westfield Newmarket. Video / Michael Craig
New Zealand's largest retail redevelopment will be finished next month, ahead of rival mega-projects the $1 billion Commercial Bay and the $703m NZ International Convention Centre which started well before the shopping centre.
ASX-listed Scentre Group has announced that construction of the $790 million Westfield Newmarket is on track to end in less than a month.
That is a far cry from the fire-hit NZICC at SkyCity whose opening date is now unknown, and the retail precinct in Commercial Bay's new PwC Tower, not due to open till next year.
Airbridge spanning the now-open Mortimer Pass. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Fletcher Construction is working on both the NZICC and Commercial Bay but not on the new shopping centre.
At Newmarket, Scentre Group project-managed its own workforce, employing many local subcontractors to successfully meet its deadline by this Christmas - a promise it now says it has kept.
Newmarket centre to be all open by Christmas. Photo / Jason Oxenham
"Westfield Newmarket is on track to be completed before Christmas," Scentre said today, citing November 21 as the target finish date for construction.
But not all of the redevelopment will be open till December.
MECCA, Maje, Sandro, Country Road, Witchery, Trenery, Veronika Maine, Politix and Auckland's first David Jones department store will open in the next phase of stores to begin trading, Scentre said.
New Zealand's first Lego Certified Store will open on October 31. On December 12, H&M will open along with Event Cinema featuring gold class and Vmax, it said.
Many shops, the food hall and rooftop restaurant precinct have already opened in the last few weeks. The first shops opened on August 29.
John Papagiannis, Scentre's leasing and retail solutions and New Zealand development director, said the project was now in its final phase.
"In just three weeks' time, the redevelopment of our $790m world-class living centre will be complete," Papagiannis said.
David Jones would open on November 21 along with the new Countdown supermarket and a new-concept tourism lounge presented by Alipay. That will allow shoppers to store their belongings in a secure place while they walk around. Access to translators and shuttle services to the domestic and international airports will also be offered.
The centre is at 277 Broadway and 309 Broadway, spanning two blocks, linked by a double-height glass and steel airbridge over Mortimer Pass.
