World class entertainment centre with Metro rejuvenation

Interior of the Metro Centre in Queen St. Photo / Supplied

The new owners of the Metro Centre at 291-297 Queen Street are looking to rejuvenate the landmark Auckland CBD retail and entertainment complex after an extended period of vacancy within 13.3 per cent of its total lettable area.

Nick Hargreaves and John Binning, of Jones Lang LaSalle, brokered a deal for Orchard Funds Management to sell the centre at a discount to the government valuation of $57 million.

"A nimble, add-value investor was needed to unlock its full potential and the successful bidder, JNJ Holdings Ltd, understands the beneficial characteristics of the site incorporating a vision of what the complex will be able to offer once fully rejuvenated," Binning says.

"The Aotea Square underwent a significant transformation into a world-class public open space. Now it's time for the Metro Centre to undergo such a transformation and once again provide the Auckland CBD community with a truly world-class entertainment and retail hub.

"The well-known complex, next to the newly revamped $80 million Aotea Square, is deemed by the Auckland Council to be in an area with distinctive style for business shopping and dining and is being promoted as a vibrant dynamic cultural hub.

"It provides the Auckland CBD with an important community asset for retail and entertainment, including cinemas, corporate and sporting events, cafes, restaurants, fast food, gaming and more."

Binning says Event Cinemas, which has a lease expiry in 2029, is a major drawcard to the complex with little competition in the surrounding locality and is situated adjacent to a council-owned carparking building with internal access allowing for ease of parking.

"While Event Cinemas recently took over from Sky City Cinemas with no disruption to services, the premises suffered after Planet Hollywood and Opium restaurant vacated in 2005," Binning says.

"Despite numerous leasing attempts, the space has been vacant ever since due to the limited amount of capital spent on refreshing the space once it became vacant.

"The retail sector is incredibly competitive and unless the right shopping or entertainment experience can be achieved with a good fit-out, many retailers will not attract enough customers to be profitable.

"However, with the new local owners, this won't be a problem and the injection of capital into a refurbishment programme for the space will undoubtedly achieve strong inquiry once our marketing campaign begins."