The long-awaited $A600 million expansion and upgrade of Scentre Group's Westfield Newmarket shopping centre in Auckland could be getting closer, with major infrastructure works happening around the property and the big Farmers store on Broadway shut last week.
Scentre, which gets five million annual visitors to Newmarket spending $148.3m annually,described in an update how extensive work was taking place around its Two Double Seven mall and how the department store was no longer trading from its site.
Plans by Scentre for the Newmarket property.
"Farmers Newmarket located at 365 Broadway is now closed," Scentre said in the update to November 6. "The Farmers carpark adjacent to Clovernook Rd is also closed."
Peter Allen, Sydney-based Scentre Group chief executive, said last year that the Newmarket, St Lukes and Albany sites would all be upgraded and Scentre's investor presentation revealed an A$600m (NZ$665m) project cost for Newmarket alone.
The update last year projected completion by the last quarter of 2019 and said the centre would be expanded from just over 3ha to nearly 8ha or 78,000sq m.
New anchor tenants are projected to be a department store, Farmers, Countdown supermarket and cinemas, and about 160 new stores will be added, Scentre said.
Mark Knoff-Thomas, Newmarket Business Association chief executive, said demolition work was now starting near the mall and that could mark the start of a big change for the area.
Crews from demolition specialists Nikau had on Friday begun to erect fences around the former Farmers store as well at 309 Broadway which is an office building, he noted.
Various service providers had for weeks been working on Gilles Ave and Mortimer Pass, he noted.
"There's nothing announced yet from Scentre," Knoff-Thomas said "but there's a lot happening right now."
The mall owner said this month: "Scentre Group...continues to consider plans for a potential development of Westfield Newmarket. As soon as these plans have been finalised we will share these with you."
Knoff-Thomas said Farmers was moving to one site on Nuffield St and another on Broadway. Some retailers were also leaving the Two Double Seven mall, he said, naming two shoe retailers and a menswear retailer.
"This all indicates things are moving in the right direction," he said of Scentre's long-standing plans.
However, infrastructure upgrades to electricity and the roading network are not just for Scentre's property but for other future development work in the area.
In June, the Herald reported that staff at giant upmarket Australian department store chain David Jones had told a New Zealand retailer of plans to open in Auckland.
David Jones has made no official announcement about Auckland and only trades from Wellington.
But the insider told the Herald that the well-established Australian chain was planning to open its second New Zealand store on the former Levene Extreme site on Broadway.
Major upgrades are on in the Newmarket area.
Scentre said this month: "As infrastructure work continues around Westfield Newmarket we endeavour to keep you updated on roading and access changes that may affect you, your staff and customers. Work is currently being undertaken to upgrade services and improve the utilities in the Newmarket area."
It noted work on Mortimer Pass, Broadway and Gillies Ave. New traffic lights had been installed and work could result in traffic delays, it said.
Scentre says Newmarket caters to nearly 534,000 residents and its centre is "spread across two sites: a major redevelopment is scheduled to commence in 2017 while planning is currently under consideration for the Two Double Seven property which will transform the centre into a premium retail destination without equal.
"The total retail spend by Westfield Newmarket...was estimated at $A8.9b in 2016 while the total retail spend in the main trade area was estimated at $A5.6b," Scentre said.
Scentre has 112 retailers in its Newmarket property which is 31,592sq m of gross lettable area. It makes $148m total annual retail sales from its mall and gets five million annual customer visits. It has 1224 car parks and the income per household in the area is $95,441 according to the 2013 Census.
