Manson and Ryan, overlooking the 10m deep hole on Carlton Gore Rd. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Manson and Ryan, overlooking the 10m deep hole on Carlton Gore Rd. Photo / Jason Oxenham
International engineering, design and advisory company Aurecon has signed up to become the anchor tenant for a new nine-level $250 million Newmarket office block being developed by Mansons TCLM.
Tracey Ryan, Aurecon managing director, said the business had taken a 12-year lease on lower levels of what is to bea nine-level building on the Carlton Gore Rd/Clayton St corner.
That is directly opposite 139 Carlton Gore Rd, the older premises where the business was for about a decade.
In April, it shifted to level three of Air New Zealand's building at 185 Fanshawe St because its Newmarket premises did not meet international requirements set by the consultancy.
"We decamped temporarily to the city," Ryan said of taking space which Air New Zealand retreated from because of the pandemic.
An Aurecon spokesperson said: "As part of our assessment when looking at renewing our lease or moving to a new building, we asked the [former] landlord to undertake a building report. That report came back with a new building standard rating that we did not feel comfortable with."
Mansons is at foundation stage at One10 Carlton Gore Road where Culum Manson said in February construction had begun without any tenants.
"We have been looking for some time to find the next permanent home," Ryan said of plans to move next November. "We will be intentionally designing around a reduction in space required for desks and increasing the space required for client engagement, innovation and collaboration."
Aurecon gets naming rights, 32 basement carparks, ground floor reception, half of level two, all level three and will be able to use co-worker space elsewhere in the new 6-star green building.
Plans for the new building. Photo / supplied
Flexible working arrangements mean the business expects only around 60 per cent of 420 staff to be in the building simultaneously.
Ryan said staff were in "a new world of work".
Manson said Jeremy Sim of agency JLL had leased the space and further new tenancy announcements would be made soon.
"Everyone is adapting to a new style of working but it's very hard to adapt in older buildings. Everyone has a different idea about the hybrid model of work."
Mansons started the 13,865sq m block without pre-leasing because Manson said post-pandemic demand was so strong.
Plans showing the new nine-level building on Carlton Gore Rd. Photo / supplied
"We've seen a lot more customers wanting to upgrade. There's a desire by businesses to get people out of their homes and working in the office. We're in the market selling new buildings constantly."
A 10m deep hole has been excavated for 120 carparks, bike parks, showers, lockers and loading zones. The lift shaft is being installed, pile drivers are on-site and concrete perimeter walls have been poured.
Across town, Mansons is at groundworks stage on 50 Albert St between Wyndham St and Swanson St where a new $650m 15-level block is under construction.
Despite predictions of falling demand for new offices, so many tenants had contacted the family business that the project began without leasing any pre-commitment due to the firm's confidence about signing leases well before construction completion.
Mansons bought a new $1m-plus eight-storey Australian crane and erected that at Fifty Albert in April to work on the 28,873sq m office block which would be finished by late 2023/early 2024.
For 152 years, the New Zealand Herald occupied the Queen/Wyndham/Swanson/Albert St block and in 2015 it left Manson's site for NZME Central, 2 Graham St, the new BDO House also built by Mansons. That building is now owned by an ex-Augusta Capital now-Centuria Capital-run syndicate.
