KEY POINTS:
The $250 million Soho Square in Ponsonby is being considered by TV3 operator MediaWorks which wants to consolidate up to 400 staff on to one site.
Roger Beaumont, MediaWorks' spokesman, said yesterday various parts of the business were scattered over numerous sites throughout Auckland which was not a desirable situation.
One large site is being pondered and Soho is in the running.
"The radio, television and interactive businesses are spread across six separate locations in Auckland and clearly a single integrated operation would be preferable," he said.
"We are exploring numerous options to achieve that and Soho is one of those," he said.
Soho is the controversial Ponsonby Rd project being developed by Marlin Group where work has stalled in the last few months.
The site is now a large hole in the ground between Williamson Ave, Pollen St and Crummer Rd and independent hearing commissioners are due to reach a decision next week on the project's latest resource consent application.
More than 800 submitters have objected to the project, saying the massive proposed commercial office block would be out of context with the special make-up of the area.
But a move to Soho is on the cards for MediaWorks, the company that runs TV3, C4 and half New Zealand's radio stations, and is controlled by Australian private equity company Ironbridge Capital.
Kerry McIntosh, New Zealand head of Ironbridge, also confirmed that the various MediaWorks businesses planned to shift and that Soho was in the running.
"The management team are in some discussions with Soho. They have not been formalised yet but it's not being handled by Ironbridge," McIntosh said yesterday.
RadioWorks operates out of 23 markets and consists of the nationwide brands More FM, RadioLIVE, Solid Gold, The Edge, The Breeze, The Rock, Radio Pacific and Kiwi FM, as well as regional stations Mai FM in Auckland and Northland, Times FM in Orewa, Sounds FM and Easy FM in Blenheim, Radio Dunedin and Coromandel FM.
TVWorks operates TV3 and C4 from network premises in Auckland with sales offices and news bureaus in Wellington and Christchurch, sales offices in Hamilton, Melbourne and Sydney, and a news bureau in Dunedin.
TV3 and C4 have operations offices in Flower St in Eden Terrace. C4 offices are also in New North Rd.
RadioWorks has offices in Fountain Court on the corner of Jervois Rd and St Marys Bay Rd in Ponsonby. Operations for More FM, The Breeze and RadioLive are run from level two of 239 Ponsonby Rd.
Other parts of the MediaWorks business are spread throughout sites on Normanby Rd in Mt Eden and in Grey Lynn.
