Project Details.

We continue to receive overwhelming support for our proposal.
“We love it-when will you get it done, being a typical response”
- Dave Wigmore, Chair, Auckland Waterfront Consortium Steering Group.

Redevelop Western end of port precinct (Queens Wharf to eastern edge of Bledisloe)

  • Fully enclosed multi-purpose entertainment and sporting

    facility (Arena Aotearoa) as anchor project.

  • 50,000 permanent seats (can be upsized to 70,000 or downsized to 20,000).

  • Conversion from eyesore to world-class mixed use zone.

  • Arena as destination architecture.

  • Set benchmark for future port precinct redevelopment (but project not dependent on port relocation)

  • Solve Auckland's stadium issue (critical infrastructure) before crisis point reached

  • Test all viable options (for a fit-for-purpose, large format stadium; and for best use of repurposed port land) before committing to proceed.

  • Holistic approach to key Auckland issues, with an all-round sustainable solution (not another 4 lane harbour bridge).

  • Reverse CBD decline. Send investment signals now.

  • Zero cash cost to ratepayer/taxpayer.

  • Utilise unique/site-specific opportunity to avoid future cost to public (approx $3b) of stadium/arena.

  • Incidental (but important) aim - high quality redevelopment of vacated Eden Park site for residential/aged care use.

KEY PROJECT FEATURES

  • Key commercial element
    - POAL to transfer Bledisloe for amount that reflects existing use (with Council approval as shareholder).
    - Provides funding to reconfigure remaining port site (or find alternative solution for vehicle imports/break bulk/freight) if needed.

  • Developer commits to construct arena/pay enabling costs (in lieu of buying Bledisloe/Eden Park sites) in return for 125 year prepaid lease of Bledisloe + freehold title to Eden Park.
    - Enabling costs include payment to POAL for release of Bledisloe wharf; and conversion of Western Springs Stadium for international cricket.

  • Risk mitigation- carefully staged/gated feasibility study to test all viable options for solving Auckland’s stadium problem/best future use of Bledisloe.

  • "Auckland Inc" approach. No 'competing' projects. A single collaborative process to identify an optimal/holistic solution.

  • Zero cash cost to the public - Developer pays all construction/enabling costs.

  • Arena Aotearoa opens 8-10 years after start of detailed feasibility study.

  • Project does not affect core container operations at port. Long term port relocation is a separate project.

PROJECT HISTORY

  • 2017 - Auckland Waterfront Consortium (AWC) formed.

  • 2018 - Initial stakeholder engagement/extensive publicity.
    - Council/Govt - enthusiastic but passive support only.
    - AWC directed to find private ignition funding.
    - Enormously popular with media/public/stakeholders.

  • 2018/19/20/21/22 - Extensive approaches to private funders (COVID interruption)

  • 2019 - Upper North Island supply chain study recommends relocation of Auckland port operations.

  • 2022 - Change of Mayor. Calls for accelerated port relocation.

  • 2022/23 - Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei confirm support for evaluation of all options for future site of Bledisloe Wharf, including Arena Aotearoa.

PROJECT DRIVERS

Unrivalled Location - Tāmaki Makaurau has a waterfront to rival Sydney in its beauty ,but its potential remains unrealised. This is Auckland’s time to shine and to produce a magnificent waterfront, mixed-use development, anchored by an iconic, fully enclosed, state of the art sports and entertainment arena. The design of Arena Aotearoa has received international acclaim. This will leave a legacy for future generations to come.

Ready to go - This Project has been developed over a 6 year period, by a consortium of leading professional services firms and with very high levels of public support. It has momentum and the proof of concept phase of the Project is ready to begin immediately.

BENEFITS TO AUCKLAND AND ITS PEOPLE

In addition to creating a centrepiece for Auckland that will be instantly recognised and admired worldwide, the Project will deliver long-term benefits to Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa.

Fitting the pieces of Auckland's 'jigsaw' together on a long-term, sustainable basis

  • Creates quality housing and commercial space, adjacent to existing public transport.

  • Unlocks the potential for other new projects such as cruise ship facilities, and a waterfront cultural centre.

  • Key to resolving Auckland's broader stadium issues.

  • Protecting/enhancing the Waitemata Harbour with no encroachment into the harbour channel.

Eden Park Precinct

  • Repurposed as a mixed residential/aged care precinct.

  • On a similar scale but later to market than Bledisloe Quarter.

Ports of Auckland

  • Existing car handling facilities to be relocated, consistent with existing plans for long-term port relocation.

Financially viable with zero cost to ratepayers and taxpayers

  • Net windfall to public in excess of NZ$2.5 billion in direct financial benefit.

Significant wider economic benefits to Auckland and New Zealand

  • GST and income tax from construction and operation.

  • Increased rating base.

  • Greater tourism, investment, employment and public amenities.

WORLD-LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES
 The project aims to obtain carbon zero certification, incorporating a unique understanding of the land, the environment, and practice of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) within its sustainability goals.

IN-SITU AESTHETICS

  • Arena Aotearoa will be set down into the seabed so that it does not create a huge, ugly visual barrier on the waterfront.

  • Topped by a magnificent roof that appears to float over the seating area and field below.

SEABED ECOLOGY

  • The sea has huge significance for Māori . Repurposing Bledisloe Wharf significantly improve the ecology of the adjacent marine environment.

GREEN ENERGY

  • Arena to be fitted with photovoltaic panels embedded into a new generation roof made from recyclable ETFE, with a zero carbon certification target.

TRAFFIC REDUCTION

  • Arena Aotearoa, the Bledisloe Quarter, and the Eden Park Precinct are adjacent to public transport networks, allowing for a low-car or car-free design.

JOB CREATION

  • Construction/operation of Arena Aotearoa, Bledisloe Quarter and the Eden Park Precinct will create thousands of new jobs.

MAORI VALUES AT THE PROJECT CORE

The project will be undertaken in partnership with Māori .

  • Incorporating Māori cultural principles into the development, such as kaitiakitanga (guardianship/stewardship of the physical and spiritual environment), manaakitanga (hospitality) and whanaungatanga (kinship).

  • Collaborating with Māori in the design process will enable the telling of Māori stories, allow the whakapapa (genealogy) of the environment to emerge, and integrate authentic design responses.

  • Prospective developers and arena operators will be obliged to make tangible, auditable commitments to the development of tohungatanga (expertise) through contracting with Māori suppliers, capability development, education, mentoring, and career growth opportunities.

  • Fully aligned with Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi). AWC sees Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as the logical owner of the underlying title to the seabed and wharf area that will be leased for Arena Aotearoa and for development of the Bledisloe Quarter.

SUNKEN ARENA DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

Arena Aotearoa will be set down into the seabed so that it does not create a huge, ugly visual barrier.The aesthetic impact (positive or negative) of an arena of this size will be an issue wherever it is located, but is even more crucial in the middle of downtown Auckland's waterfront. Arena Aotearoa must be beautiful and distinctive, so that it becomes Auckland's equivalent of the Sydney Opera House, or the Statue of Liberty.

The design is beautiful, and was a finalist in the 2019 World Architecture Festival Awards- Future Projects. The only visible parts of Arena Aotearoa will be a see through section (except where this will be taken up with temporary expansion seating to lift capacity from 50,000 to 70,000 seats) and a beautiful floating roof structure.

The arena's concourse will be at the same level as neighbouring Quay Street and can easily be raised in the detailed design phase if necessary (to accommodate any concerns about rising sea levels; although the impact of this is not expected to be significant).

This combines to make Arena Aotearoa unique, and AWC is not aware of anything else exactly like it in the world.

KEY PROJECT FEATURES EXPLAINED IN DETAIL

Feasibility Testing Prior to any Commitment

AWC's proposal will be tested, during a 15 month Facilitation Phase, against alternative solutions to transform the waterfront and provide Auckland with a world-class indoor arena. The proposal will be modified to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders are met, before any commitment is made to implement the proposal.

Key Feasibility Criteria

The key criteria which must be met, by this or any other proposal, are:

  • A design philosophy, for all parts of the waterfront development - including the arena - that demands world-class aesthetics and functionality;

A holistic, integrated solution to a number of issues facing Auckland

  • Inadequate stadia/large-format entertainment venues.

  • Waterfront fenced off to the public and an embarrassment

  • Shortage of high quality housing in CBD & Mt Eden.

  • Need to make better use of public transport hubs.

  • Need to turn downtown Auckland from an industrial zone into a vibrant place to visit, live, work and invest.

Land must remain in NZ ownership.

Must happen without need for financial contributions from ratepayers and taxpayers.

  • Project is funded entirely by adding value to under-utilised land (Bledisloe Wharf/Eden Park) by changing its use and then extracting the increased value in the form of an arena and other public amenities.

Collaboration and Standstill

All key stakeholders must work closely and collaboratively during the Facilitation Phase, to ensure all of their needs are identified and can be met. During this period, there would be a standstill on other initiatives that might delay or make impossible the implementation of the proposal, or which might result in wasted public expenditure. The aim would be to maximise the net returns from the project, to the people of Auckland, by all stakeholders being smart and working together.

Carefully Conceived Proposal

There is no point starting the Facilitation Phase without a proposal that has already been carefully thought through, tested and refined, with input from a lot of key stakeholders. AWC's proposal ticks these boxes and AWC is confident that further feasibility investigations will quickly confirm that it will work.

If the project had a fatal flaw, it would have found it by now. AWC has the benefit of knowing what hasn't worked in the past:

  • oval stadia.

  • unroofed stadia.

  • stadia that aren't connected to the city with an always thriving precinct.

  • stadia that have to repay their construction costs through operating revenues.

  • stadia that are not acoustically contained.

  • stadia that might function well but are enormous, ugly blots on the landscape.

  • stadia that aren't immediately adjacent to existing public transport hubs.

  • stadia that rely on sporting events, not entertainment/conventions as their main source of revenue.

Shifting Car Imports

There will be a viable solution to the relocation of Ports of Auckland's car and non-containerised freight activities off Bledisloe Wharf, Captain cook Wharf (which will no longer be needed) and Marsden Wharf (already semi-demolished), by mid-2030 (the target relocation date).

Options include more intensive use of the remaining port land (much of which is under utilised e.g. used for storing empty containers), better use of off-port staging facilities (linked by rail or barge), and joint ventures with other ports. This will not require rocket science. Aucklanders simply will not tolerate any outcome which permits their waterfront to be used, long term, as a carpark.

An objective feasibility assessment

The feasibility assessment will be a collaborative/combined output from AWC and all stakeholders. It is not something that AWC will simply produce, as though it were a consultant (AWC is not a consultant; it is the neutral facilitator of a collaborative project, involving all stakeholders). The feasibility assessment will generate a ubiquitous, definitive information set, which all stakeholders can then use to form their own views on whether to sign Stakeholder Agreements, to allow the project to move into the Developer Selection Phase. The terms of reference for the undertaking of the feasibility assessment will require an independent, objective approach to be taken by AWC and all stakeholders, with external probity audits and peer review.

Why now?

There is an 8-10 year timeframe to build Arena Aotearoa and transform the adjacent waterfront. That is long enough already. If this increases to 15, 20 or 30 years, it will create a series of compounding and very expensive problems that will still need to be resolved one day- but not during our lifetimes and certainly not at zero cost to the ratepayer/taxpayer. Instead of creating a legacy for future generations, they will have been left with a very expensive set of problems.

THE CASE FOR A LARGE FORMAT, DOWNTOWN, FULLY ENCLOSED, MULTI-PURPOSE ENTERTAINING AND SPORTING ARENA.

Eden Park, Auckland's primary rugby and cricket stadium, is not competitive with other stadia on a national or an international stage.

Eden Park

  • In a poor location, so constrained in terms of when and for what it can be used, meaning it will always be significantly under-utilised.

  • Oval stadium, therefore, not suitable for football; no longer fit for purpose as an international rugby or cricket venue and not compliant with ICC requirements.

  • Maximum capacity of 48,000, with severe limitations as a multi- purpose facility for other large scale events such as concerts.

  • No roof, so not protected from the elements.

  • In significant financial difficulty. Reliant on "life support" funding from Auckland Council.

  • Mt Smart and QBE stadium share many of these problems and are even less fit-for-purpose.

Compare this to Arena Aotearoa

  • Downtown waterfront location, adjacent to Auckland's central public transport hub, CBD, hospitality & parking.

  • Iconic, breathtakingly beautiful design, set down into the seabed. Finalist in 2019 World Architecture Festival Awards- Future Projects.

  • Multi-purpose, hosting rugby and football matches, conventions, concerts and other entertainment.

  • Seats 50,000. Can be upsized to 70,000 for major events e.g. Rugby World Cup, or downsized to 20,000.

  • All-weather arena that is fully enclosed & acoustically contained.

  • Operator will have no debt servicing costs, and because arena is multi-purpose, can be used 24 x 7 from day one.