Auckland tops Property Council building awards

By ANNE GIBSON

Auckland dominated the Property Council building awards announced at the weekend.

Award criteria included investment returns, user satisfaction, architectural features, how they function and how the developers handled planning issues.

The new KPMG Building on Auckland's waterfront won a supreme award for its superior quality. The squat four-level office block on the corner of Viaduct Harbour Ave and Fanshawe St was finished in December and took the top Property Council/Rider Hunt Building Awards for how it was developed and its financial performance.

"The building is an excellent example of a premium quality five-level architecturally innovative office development completed to exacting tenant requirements," said judging panel chairman Stuart Kendon.

KPMG and Kensington Swan signed a 15-year lease on the building, owned by M3 Investments, an offshoot of Newcrest Holdings. The building went up under budget and on time.

Nearly $1 billion-worth of property was judged in the awards, won last year by Tower Property Funds' Bayfair shopping centre at Mt Maunganui.

Christchurch Art Gallery and Auckland University's student amenities complex jointly won the education and arts category. The Charles Parsons building at 525 Rosebank Rd in Avondale was judged the best industrial complex. Wellington's refurbished Embassy Theatre won the tourism and leisure award. The 39-unit North apartment block at Lighter Quay, Viaduct Basin, won the multi-unit residential prize.