Van Cleef & Arpels has opened for business on the corner of Queen and Custom streets. Photo / Nathan Male
Van Cleef & Arpels has opened for business on the corner of Queen and Custom streets. Photo / Nathan Male
OPINION:
I am writing in response to Simon Wilson's articles (NZ Herald, May 24 and 31) which, to my view, lack an understanding of the basic dynamics of what is happening in Auckland's Central Business District.
True, the area has been blighted by the City Rail Link construction and aconfused protracted quasi-pedestrianisation of Queen St by Auckland Council, but the main culprit is Covid.
CBD retail thrives on pedestrian traffic and, unlike anywhere else in the country, the area has been affected by the three main groups of city occupiers being absent - city office workers, tourists and the education sector.
Suburban locations on the other hand have thrived because of the increasing numbers of people working from home - and are largely unaffected by the absence of tourists or students.
A free musical performance in a Fort St pocket park. Photo / Nathan Male
On top of this, one of the major occupier groups, namely banks, has significantly reduced its Queen St presence in response to the changes in banking practice, leading to a significant number of large sites being available.
Commercial Bay and Britomart are shining examples of curated and well-run retail precincts. The key to improving the CBD long-term is to apply similar ethos to the wider CBD as far as possible.
Auckland Council should look at the things that Britomart does well, and seek to invoke similar policies to improve the overall environment – with security being top of mind.
At a government level, there needs to be a concerted effort to reinvigorate the overseas education market and the removal of obstacles for tourists travelling to New Zealand.
Businesses also need to get their employees back into the city – witness the uptick in Heart of the City's pedestrian counts.
For the time being, a structural shift in the office market may put people in the office for only three days a week. If that trend continues then businesses will require less prime office space. This will create more opportunities for other businesses to also occupy great spaces in the city for shorter periods.
Co-working spaces will expand.
I am confident that the CBD office population will return to something close to previous levels. It is a great place to be and once people have left their homes behind they will realise how vibrant and stimulating working in an office is.
So, to the upside of the situation. Several things are happening that will improve the environment: in lower Queen St, international brands are positioning to open new stores, expanding the luxury precinct and triggering the refurbishment of existing buildings.
The most recent such example is the opening of Van Cleef & Arpels last week on the corner of Queen and Custom Sts.
Both 75 Queen St and 131 Queen St are significant buildings that have been upgraded, with others to follow.
Nathan Male. Photo / Supplied
In the midtown, the two station exits from Aotea station are set to open in late 2025, which Auckland Transport predicts will result in two-thirds of all city-bound rail traffic alighting onto Victoria and Wellesley Sts.
This alone is going to catapult the midsection of Queen St into one of the busiest pedestrian areas in the country. Landlords around the station entrances are starting to refurbish the buildings in response to the council and government's infrastructure spending.
Retailers will respond as the opening date gets closer.
All the building blocks are in place for a fantastic city centre in a couple of years and, yes, we have some teething pains to get through as we recover from Covid.
But businesses and the wider population need to understand what the future holds, and not dwell on the low point of the effects of Covid.
The CBD is dead? Dream on.
• Nathan Male is director of retail leasing with Metro Commercial.
