KEY POINTS:
Waitakere City is seeking an anchor tenant to enable it to proceed with the next stage of its development of the 3.3 hectare Waitakere Central site in Henderson Valley Rd in the heart of Henderson.
Waitakere Properties, a council trading organisation, has leased all but 236 sq m
of the 1800 sq m of A-grade office space in its Central One building which was completed in February this year.
This building was the final part of Stage 1 of the eco-city's project, planned to eventually contain 30,000 sq m of high quality office space along with ground floor retail outlets.
Stage One also includes its new award-winning Civic Centre occupied by 700 council employees, a modern Henderson railway station and bus interchange, a civic square and a Japanese garden in recognition of Waitakere's sister city, Kakogawa, in Japan.
The next stage involves the construction of the proposed 4000 sq m Central Two building. Waitakere Properties Development Manager Don Lindberg says it's expected the 1000 sq m ground floor of the Central Two complex will contain a fitness centre, restaurant/bar and a retail outlet.
About half the first floor has been earmarked for use by a childcare centre with the remaining 500 sq m to be leased as office space.
"Once we have an anchor tenant to lease either the third or fourth floors, the construction of Central Two can commence," says Bayleys commercial sales and leasing agent, Chris Upright, who is marketing the property with Andre Siegert.
"It could also proceed if we signed up two major tenants taking 450 sq m each. Being the anchor tenant would also entitle the lessee to building signage in a high profile area in West Auckland, with good exposure to Great North Road," Upright says.
Central Two is the next step in Waitakere's "Environmentally Sustainable Design" initiative (ESD), designed to revitalise Henderson and attract back some of the 60 per cent of city's workers who commute each day.
Waitakere Properties' chief executive Greg Parker says Waitakere Central is being created through a collaboration of architects, urban planners, project managers, Waitakere City Council and Waitakere Properties.
"We are jointly committed to reinvigorating Henderson.
"Coupled with long-term future plans to include residential and visitor accommodation, it is intended that Waitakere Central will become the live, work and play hub of Henderson.
"Apart from obtaining a high standard of office accommodation in a quality environment, businesses will have the benefit of being close to the new rail and transport interchange and being adjacent to the Henderson CBD with its cafes, and retail stores," says Lindberg.
The railway link to the western suburbs is being upgraded from a single to double track. When this work is completed in 2009, it is expected to double the number of trains bringing commuters from Auckland City to Waitakere and vice versa.
Lindberg says the attraction of Waitakere Central to corporate and retail tenants is expected to be enhanced with plans for comprehensive redevelopment of Henderson's business area.
Over the next few years, all the streets in central Henderson will be refurbished with widening and lane realignments, bus priority measures, new road connections and footpaths, additional seating, gardens, artworks, pedestrian lighting, trading kiosks and international guidance signage.
In keeping with Waitakere's "eco city" image, the Waitakere Central development includes extensive planned green spaces and landscaping to give workers and visitors easy access to designated "relaxation zones".
Central One and the Civic Centre contain significant artworks depicting the distinctive history and culture of the west through groups like indigenous Maori, Yugoslav and English settlers.
It is a local theme that will be featured in Central Two and other future building designs.
Project managers for the development, MPM Project, belong to the the New Zealand Green Building Council that has recently implemented a green star rating for New Zealand buildings. Specialists were flown over from Sydney to assist in the production of a series of guidelines and advise on the construction of green buildings within the city office park.
"Because sustainable and green buildings are the way of the future, these guidelines will set the theme in the construction of six more commercial structures to be built on the site," Parker says.
For the design of Central One, architectural design company Ignite incorporated a number of "green" features.
Roof overhangs and louvres provide shading while a light colour palette reflects sunlight, helping to reduce the reliance on air conditioning.
A large overhang at the front of the building and the numerous elliptical louvres reduce the temperature and the glare inside the office space.
Rainwater is harvested for toilet use and stormwater runoff is controlled with innovative techniques including the planting of a garden on the roof of the Civic Centre. Use of sustainable and recycled materials was also a priority.
Internally, instead of lowering the ceiling, to conceal cabling and pipes carrying essential services, the ducting lines were left exposed, as were the preformed concrete floors.
Not only did this result in a reduction in required building materials but it increased the feeling of spaciousness inside Central One. The building has also been designed to optimise working conditions for staff by aiming to ensure the maximum distance to the nearest windows from any work station is only 6-7 metres.
"By employing these environmentally conscious features, we were able to design to a four-star green sustainability rating without considerably impacting on the budget," Parker says.
Central Two will be built to the same exacting design standards incorporating similar green features.
Upright says the top quality office space is like to appeal to a professional services firm or business, call centre, or a government department wanting a large labour pool, good transportation links and central business centre amenities but without the high Auckland CBD rentals.
"We are just commencing the advertising campaign for Central Two and anticipate keen interest in view of the extremely low vacancy rates for A-grade office space in Auckland city."