Wynyard region enjoying $260m facelift

Building planning and construction work worth about $260 million is going on around Auckland's expanding Wynyard Quarter.

John Dalzell, chief executive of Sea + City, the public body overseeing the funded works at the Tank Farm, said construction in the western Auckland waterfront area was ramping up as teams of workers moved in.

Much of the work is due to be ready for next year's Rugby World Cup. Steel work on the new $32 million Viaduct Events Centre, formerly the Marine Events Centre, is well under way.

"There's about $100 million of publicly funded works around Jellicoe St, Silo Park, the new Viaduct Events Centre and the Wynyard Crossing, which has changed its name.

"It used to be known as the Te Wero crossing or bridge. As well, planning work on the new $160 million ASB building is under way," Dalzell said.

Jellicoe St will be changed into a tree-lined boulevard which will be linked to a new North Wharf promenade with casual al fresco dining. At the end of Jellicoe St will be Silo Park, a waterfront park with 5200sq m of open space.

Hawkins Construction has erected part of the framework on the new events centre on the waterfront, Dalzell said. About a third of the framework to form the building's footprint is in place and Hawkins is moving on to the second storey of the structure in front of the Emirates Team New Zealand base.

That building will be demolished in the next few weeks, Dalzell said.

Back towards the city, Jellicoe St between Halsey St and Daldy St has been blocked off to public access and work is under way for new buildings and landscaping.

Alongside Jellicoe St's old red shed - the distinctive red-doored waterfront structure where ASB last year announced its development on the waterfront - ground works are being carried out to erect two new red sheds on either side of the existing building.

The three buildings will be home to eight to 10 hospitality tenancies operating bars and restaurants, Dalzell said.

Two new buildings will be temporary structures, able to be relocated in the next few years because the land is zoned for higher-rise buildings.

The rooftop design of ASB's new head offices, with a distinctive cone-topped dome, is understood to have been changed.

Kiwi Income Property Trust is to own this building, due to be finished by the second half of 2013 and to rise on the site alongside Sanford's buildings and the FishMart.