From strawberry fields to Massey mega-centre

A new $234 million town centre is planned for Massey after one of the country's largest property investors got its acquisition of land approved by Government officials.

Australian-controlled AMP NZ Property Developments has just got Overseas Investment Commission clearance to buy 15ha of rural land leased for strawberry farming on State Highway 16 from the Midgely family of West Auckland.

Auckland's expanding population is pushing on the city's urban limits to such an extent that the land, which is zoned for rural uses, has been earmarked for a new township where thousands are expected to live.

The new town centre is part of a push to solve Auckland's land crisis, after it was found last year that the city was fast running out of room for business and commercial uses.

AMP told the commission the new centre would be "along similar lines to the Botany Town Centre," its $234 million flagship shopping centre on 17.6ha in Manukau City.

AMP also compared the project to its vast Northwood Supa Centa in Christchurch and Manukau Supa Centa in Auckland.

AMP had to get official clearance because it is 89 per cent owned by Australians and wants to buy rural land.

But the price must remain secret and was marked "confidential" on the commission's decision sheets.

The development vehicle of the AMP NZ Property Fund is buying the land. The fund owns office, industrial, shopping and hotel properties here and is headed by Stephen Costley in Auckland.

AMP wants to buy the land in adjoining chunks - 14.6ha at 19-21 and 35-39 State Highway 16 and 0.3ha at 17 State Highway 16.

Building work was likely to start within five years, after the consultation and resource consent process was finalised, AMP said in its application.

Mr Costley said AMP had an offer on the land but had not yet settled. If it went ahead, $100 million to $150 million could be spent initially building the new town centre and more over the years.

"There are many things that need to take place for us to complete the purchase," he said of the land zoned rural and within 1km of the Westgate shopping centre.

Mr Costley said the deal was partly dependent on Waitakere City Council succeeding in expanding its urban boundaries. It has asked the Auckland Regional Council to shift the metropolitan urban limit which ring-fences Auckland. Mr Costley said the shift would allow the Massey land to be more intensively developed.

Pushing the city limits

* The land AMP wants to buy is planted in strawberries.
* The developer reckons we have a stronger appetite for shopping than berries.
* Population demand is so great that Auckland's "ring-fence" could be pushed out on its western boundary for the new town centre.
* AMP already owns property worth $1.6 billion in New Zealand.
* It has Auckland's Manukau Supa Centa with 28 shops and Northwood with 17 shops in Christchurch.
* Its biggest is Botany Town Centre with 170 shops and a Berkeley multiplex cinema. It is valued at $234 million and has an outdoor focus.
* Cinemas, supermarkets, entertainment zones, food courts, home stores and large-format shops, thousands of carparks and a public transport link are AMP's preferred mix.