Precinct Properties spent 12 years and more than $1b on Commercial Bay. Why it decided to define downtown Auckland. Video / Carson Bluck / Corey Fleming / Kane Dickie
Precinct Properties’ Commercial Bay development is officially complete with a $4m rooftop bar overseeing Auckland the finishing touch on a $1.1 billion, 12-year-long project.
“We’re truly passionate about Auckland, we think this is a fantastic city,” Precinct’s general manager of property Anthony Randell told Markets with Madison at Queens Rooftop bar.
“At any given week we’re around 250,000 people walking through our centre. That’s up around 20 per cent on this time last year and we continue to see that increase as people come back into the city.”
The value of Commercial Bay, comprising five office towers (one brand-new and one refurbished), 120 shops and eateries, and about 10,000 workers, was now worth $1.3b on paper, Randell said.
It was a textbook example of Precinct’s mixed-use model where it claimed convenience was key to making a return on its investments.
The retail precinct and new 43-floor PwC Tower opened in 2020, during a recession. Now the final refurbished tower, One Queen Street, which includes a five-star InterContinental hotel, was opening in another downturn.
“We find ourselves in an environment now where consumer confidence is slightly down, and discretionary impact is having an impact on people coming through our centre and spending money,” Randell said.
Crime was another complexity added to the environment.
“We have city centre crime and anti-social behaviour at a level we’re not comfortable with.”
Precinct Properties' Commercial Bay development comprises five office towers (one new and one refurbished), 120 shops and eateries and a hotel.
The company would profit off the project through earned net rental income. It would also clip the ticket on their turnover, taking an undisclosed single-digit percentage of revenue from operators such as Five Fellas, who run the 11am to 3am rooftop bar.
Queens co-owner Callum O’Brien told Markets with Madison it was targeting turnover in the hundreds of thousands of dollars weekly.
Randell was optimistic there was more economic upside to come as tourism continued to bounce back.
“This retail centre hasn’t had a chance at a full runway yet.”
See the completed $1.1b development in today’s episode of Markets with Madison above.
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Madison Reidy is the host of the NZ Herald’s investment show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment, and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.
