Team NZ get their marching orders

Team New Zealand have been told to vacate their base in Auckland's Viaduct. Photo / Dean Purcell

Team New Zealand have only weeks to find a new home after being given notice by an Auckland Council division to be out of their Viaduct base by the end of the year.

The Halsey St site on the western edge of the Viaduct Harbour, which has housed the Emirates Team New Zealand base for eight years, is earmarked for a five-star hotel.

The team have known since late 2013 they would have to quit the space, and have been in discussions with Panuku Development Auckland for two years over new sites. No agreement has been reached.

Team New Zealand have been told to vacate their base in Auckland's Viaduct. Photo / Dean Purcell

Team NZ chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge said the syndicate had specific requirements for their new base, and finding a suitable location was proving difficult.

"We do take up quite a bit of footprint and we need direct access to the water, and there's not many places on the waterfront that can accommodate us. And it needs to be reasonably sheltered.

"Land is at a premium so it is not easy," Shoebridge said.

The forced move comes at a bad time for Team NZ as they prepare for a busy summer of on-water testing.

The syndicate will be trialling various dagger foil and control system developments in their two foiling AC45 catamarans, which will provide data for the design of their America's Cup class yacht to be sailed in the 2017 event in Bermuda.

"It's a big one to have to move at short notice," said Shoebridge.

"We've known it's going to happen at some point; we were kind of hoping it was going to take longer. The timing is not great with boats being built and all the rest of it, but we'll take that on."

Development Auckland interim chief executive John Dalzell said his organisation was committed to finding a suitable new home for Team NZ, who have been in the Viaduct area for nearly 20 years.

"ETNZ is inextricably linked with Auckland's waterfront so we have been very focused on finding a suitable location in the area," said Dalzell.

Despite the tight time frame Shoebridge is confident the team can get their new base set up quickly once a suitable location has been found by using the same portable base they used in San Francisco during the last America's Cup campaign.

The use of temporary structures is a long way off the original vision Team NZ had for their new home.

Chief executive Grant Dalton told the Herald on Sunday in January last year the team wanted to establish a permanent base on the Auckland waterfront, combined with shops, businesses and a sailing centre of excellence to provide an attractive destination for local visitors to the precinct as well as tourists.

"We would like to have more of a legacy building - not just a tin shed," said Dalton. "It is early days and we are still in discussions but, ideally, we would become an interactive part of the [Wynyard Quarter] precinct."