Scentre’s NZ$790 million redevelopment of Westfield Newmarket will put it in the top echelon of Auckland shopping centres.

The retail landlord has confirmed construction on its largest project to date is on track, with all key milestones being met, including ongoing basalt rock blasting to allow further excavation.

Upon completion, the centre will have an additional 190,000sqm of floor space to accommodate retail, dining and entertainment offerings and 2,770 new car parking spaces.

The steel structural framing, which will feature retailers such as Farmers and Event Cinemas, has already been erected on one site, giving shape to what will be a world-class retail and lifestyle destination.

“As scheduled, a second crane was erected on site earlier this month, symbolising the next stage of construction,” Scentre said in statement.

This coincides with the main part of demolition nearing completion and structures starting to appear up out of the ground on both sites that will be joined by an aerobridge to form the complete Westfield Newmarket.

Westfield Newmarket will house Auckland’s first David Jones, a state-of-the-art Event Cinemas complex including Gold Class and V-Max, a new format Farmers department store, Countdown supermarket and more than 230 new specialty stores.

The entire project will incorporate multiple sites of over 4.5 hectares, providing not only a lifestyle and retail destination but also leisure and hospitality experience. The new living centre will offer much more than just shopping with movies, bars, dining, entertainment and gyms all under the one roof.

The project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.