Project Auckland: Fonterra HQ leads commercial building upturn

New Fonterra building at Wynyard Quarter.

Fonterra's new head office is set to provide "a massive economic and visual injection" to the whole of Auckland and particularly the Viaduct Precinct.

The Fonterra HQ is part of a swag of new projects worth at least $10 billion - infrastructure, education, roading, commercial, retail, housing and prison projects - in Auckland.

It has been designed to reflect the farming co-operative's close links to the land and values including its "environmentally conscious and sustainable approach to business".

But crucially it is also a bellwether project signalling that the Auckland commercial construction market is rebounding from the Global Financial Crisis slump which brought commercial construction to a halt.

Notably, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC recently bought a half stake in some of Auckland's newest commercial buildings via the Goodman Property Trust which retains a 51 per cent stake in the $313 million partnership. The projects show that Auckland is in "catch-up" mode. But they also pose growth challenges.