After a few delays in the construction of its Commercial Bay development, Precinct Properties announced it has now opened its doors to the public.
The $690 million development, which is being built by Fletcher Properties, is a three-level retail and hospitality precinct that features more than 120 local and international shopping and dining options located in laneways and open-air spaces.
The project features an 18,000sqm retail space and 39,000sqm office space.
Peter Reidy, Fletcher Construction chief executive, said the project is so much more than a building or a retail and hospitality precinct. It is an ambitious development which will transform Auckland’s CBD and waterfront, returning the area to a centre of trade and activity in the city.
“This is a hugely complex project which ties together transport connections, innovative workplaces, retail attractions and dining destinations, while creating stronger connections between the CBD and waterfront,” Reidy said.
According to Reidy, as many as 2000 people, including subcontractors, worked on the Commercial Bay project at its peak.
“Commercial Bay links four existing buildings to the new 39-storey PwC office tower, New Zealand’s largest steel tower,” he said. “The tower’s foundations were dug concurrently with the beginning of the tunnels for the City Rail Link, and the project scope also included the demolition of the old Downtown Shopping Centre.”
With the opening of the shopping destination, clothing retailer Superette has also unveiled its 250sqm store in Commercial Bay, along with other retailers and restaurants.
This is the 18-year-old brand’s first foray in Auckland and its eighth store nationwide counting online.
The brand’s directors James Rigden and Rickie Dee said the new outpost in the Auckland CBD is the “cherry on top” of a spectacular trajectory over the last 18 years.
“Commercial Bay is a coming of age story for us,” Dee said. “We’ve grown up a lot since opening Superette Drake Street in the Victoria Quarter nearly two decades ago and we’re thrilled to be offering Auckland City dwellers a large format store of all our best brands, curated just for them.”
During the lockdown, Superette launched Superette Takeaways, a service where customers could shop in store via FaceTime, tour the stores, call and collect, among others.
Precinct Properties originally expected the retail centre to be done in October 2018 and the office tower in mid-2019, but it had continued to push back the opening dates due to “slippage” in the construction of the project.
Last year, it was said the delays could add an extra $10 million to the total cost of the development.
