'Intelligent' building a gateway to city

An artist's impression of the five-storey green-rated Citygate building, which is tipped to help revitalise Hamilton's CBD. Photo / Supplied

Site works are about to begin on Citygate, a striking five-storey triangular glass-and-concrete office and retail building, planned for a prominent vacant corner site in the Hamilton city centre and designed by well-known Auckland-based architectural firm Jasmax, to serve as "a gateway to the heart of the city centre".

Construction is scheduled to begin towards the end of the year with completion planned for 2012.

Mike Neale, CB Richard Ellis' Hamilton director, and broker colleague Kara Gerrand are now leasing space on an exclusive basis. This includes two office floors of 1035sq m each and 670sq m of ground-floor retail space in the 5300sq Citygate, on behalf of the Auckland property developer McConnell Property.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has already signed to lease more than 2000sq m over the top two floors of Citygate, which will be built on the "sand-pit" site opposite Centre Place shopping mall and next to Wintec's Atrium building on the corner of Ward St and Anglesea St. The area serves as a significant transport corridor and is one of the top three pedestrian locations in Hamilton.

In the first of its type for Hamilton, a 750sq m open piazza has been incorporated into the site. "It is exceptionally rare for new high-quality open space to be created in the CBD as a result of property development," says Aidan Donnelly, development manager for McConnell Property.

"As a landmark building incorporating a public open space, it will provide a high profile and visible presence for tenants who appreciate the link between quality and brand exposure," Donnelly says.

The piazza will link Citygate and Wintec House, providing a seamless connection for students and building tenants to the middle of the CBD. When it is completed, the public area of the piazza will be handed over to the city council.

"Citygate's open space creates the chance for tenants and the public to use seating on the public lawn area or the informal cafe-style, movable seating attached to the retail area," Donnelly says.

If all goes to plan, PWC will occupy the four-star green-rated property at the beginning of 2013 and move from Centre Place on the corner of Bryce St and Anglesea St.

"PWC wanted to stay in the CBD and signing the company to a lease in an off-market deal during a difficult couple of years in the commercial property market has been the catalyst for launching Citygate, and we have had an encouraging level of inquiry from other potential office and retail tenants," Donnelly says.

"Citygate has been designed from the inside out to optimise return on occupancy costs and add value to business performance.

"It is an intelligent building with generous floor-to-ceiling heights, sustainable in quality and design, contributing to a healthy work environment."

Donnelly said McConnell Property would prefer one tenant for the remaining two floors but would look at splitting the floors in half to provide tenancies of about 500sq m.

Neale expects the triangular property to attract bigger tenants looking for high-quality offices, as Hamilton has a shortage and there is less than 2 per cent of vacant A-grade space available.

"Citygate will be able to accommodate up to 300 staff in modern, purpose-built column-free floorplates flooded with natural light. The floor plates offer flexible layout options for companies looking at either open-plan or office-based work environments or a combination of both."

Gerrand says the ground-floor retail space can be split to suit prospective tenants' needs and Citygate could have anywhere between three and six shops housing fashion, restaurants, cafes or other significant boutique retailers.

"The property will have 93 dedicated carparks, including some in the Wintec carpark, a generous number for a CBD building. PWC is also installing bike parking and lockers to provide a 'great workplace' for its staff. It is also a five-minute covered walk from Hamilton's Transportation Centre."

Neale says Citygate will be a green-star landmark building for Hamilton.

"It will be a significant addition to the city's architecture and help in the revitalisation of the CBD.

"The city council has been working hard to keep companies from moving out of the CBD and this should go a long way to providing a superior level of office space to suit a wide range of businesses."

McConnell Property bought the "sand-pit" site from the Hamilton City Council and spent just more than a year planning Citygate's design with the council and Wintec.

Donnelly said the triangular shape was preferred so the new building would not obscure the restored Wintec House.

"We wanted to provide a quality commercial precinct that sets new standards in the design of a modern purpose-built CBD office building. It is known that innovative workplace design can support productivity by more than 5 per cent."

Jasmax's research shows an innovative workplace can increase collaboration between employees by an average of 20-30 per cent, concentration by 15-20 per cent, innovation by 30 per cent and alignment to a company's brand values and culture by 50-60 per cent, resulting in rise in productivity.

Neale says the Waikato region is growing and Hamilton has solid infrastructure. "It is a growing hub for companies operating in the top half of the North Island. McConnell Property is committed to this project as it will provide long-term value, efficiency, connectivity and a high-performance business centre."