Auckland's biggest shopping mall already attracts around 13 million shopper visits annually - but it is about to get much bigger and draw even more customers.
Sylvia Park at Mt Wellington has annual sales of $500 million-plus but now it is getting new dining lane The Grove, an $80.2m 10-level office block designed by Architectus and around 1500 extra car parks.
The Grove, rising now at Sylvia Park.
Chris Gudgeon, chief executive of mall owner Kiwi Property, explained why the development work was going on and what happens next.
"It's evolving into much more than just a shopping centre. We've got an office building rising above our new restaurant precinct, The Grove which opens in December. In the shopping centre, we have a new carpark building under construction around the back next to the railway line.
"Then of course we're planning for the next big stage: our $200m galleria expansion which will feature at least one new department store, new international mini-majors, brands new to New Zealand, new to the centre," Gudgeon said of an extra 20,000sq m of floor space being planned.
David Jones has long been tipped to come to Auckland after opening in Wellington and Farmers has, as yet, no Sylvia Park outlet.
Global retailers Zara and H&M are big Sylvia Park drawcards already but Kiwi has much grander plans and that includes bringing other global stores here.
The existing mall was built to take a second level of retail and the department store development will be above Zara.
Lauren Riley, who took over as Sylvia Park's centre manager last October, said about 50,000 people visited the centre on an average weekend, boosted to about 60,000 when a major event was on, such as an Adele concert.
Riley was previously centre manager of Kiwi's LynnMall, expanded with the new Reading cinemas and The Brickworks dining lane.
She has a bachelor of property from Auckland University, worked for the Bledisloe Estate Trust and the BNZ and joined Kiwi in 2008, initially as a commercial asset manager. She went to LynnMall in 2014 and oversaw the significant changes there.
Lauren Riley and Chris Gudgeon tell why Sylvia Park is expanding. Photo/Doug Sherring
Gudgeon said the shopping centre was specifically zoned for upscaling under Auckland planning regulations.
"Sylvia Park is a metropolitan centre under the Auckland [Unitary] Plan. As you know we've got rail, we've got bus, a motorway interchange. It's all about town centre intensification and that's exactly what's happening here," he said citing the mix of retailing, dining and now office use.
Sylvia Park, which has an indoor floor area around 1km long, will just continue to grow in this key node within the Auckland region, he said.
"The centre, which was opened in 2007, is a multi-generational asset. There will be continuous development," Gudgeon said.
Kiwi might also build apartment blocks around the centre in the future but Gudgeon was reluctant to go into details about this aspect.
"I'm not saying we have plans right here and now but who knows? In 10 to 20 years, there might be residential, a hotel, more offices," he said.
