Offices to be 500-bed city lodge

By ANNE GIBSON Property editor

The burgeoning budget accommodation business has encouraged Auckland Central Backpackers to expand, paying $7.4 million for an 11-level office block at 229 Queen St that it will turn into a 500-bed lodge.

The former Westpac Building, on the corner of Queen and Darby Sts beside the Strand Arcade, will replace Auckland Central Backpackers' main central-city lodge now in Fort St, which it has to vacate.

Guardian Trust Funds Management sold the Queen St building to Auckland Central Backpackers, saying it was relieved to quit an office block with a high vacancy level.

Campbell Shepherd, managing director of Auckland Central Backpackers, said yesterday that he had also leased a floor of the neighbouring Strand Arcade to link in to his new building.

The floor will be the hostel's main communal area.

It will house an internet cafe with 40 computer terminals, a job search and recruitment centre, a travel centre, guest lounges, and kitchen and dining areas.

As well as 500 beds in the Queen St building, Mr Shepherd said, a further 400 beds could be added, ranging from dormitory-style rooms to double and twin rooms with en suites.

The new lodge will open in December, in time for the peak summer period.

Mr Shepherd hopes the new backpacker lodge will invigorate the central area.

"The plan is to really raise the benchmark in relation to services and facilities.

"With backpacker clients becoming more discerning, we believe the time is right to move to a new purpose-built complex," he said.

The chief executive of Tourism Auckland, Graeme Osborne, backed the move.

"The backpacker market is one of the fastest growing visitor groups for Auckland," he said, citing a 36 per cent increase in the number of people staying at hostel-type accommodation.

"Backpackers also tend to stay in New Zealand for longer than other tourists and spend a lot per trip," Mr Osborne said.

The vendor of the building added his support to Auckland Central Backpackers.

Grant Unsworth, of Guardian Trust Funds Management, said the sale removed an office building with a high vacancy level from the portfolio.

He said shop owners, food and entertainment outlets would also benefit from the backpacker business being established in the central area.

Links:


Auckland Central Backpackers