Cathedral reeling over approval for 46-storey tower

The Catholic Church is reeling after plans for Auckland's tallest new apartment tower were granted planning approval.

In the midst of one of the country's worst real-estate downturns, developer Gary Groves' Sanctuary Group got consent for his new Saffron tower, a 46-storey Albert St block of units next to the Catholic cathedral in the CBD.

Kevin Sherlock, who is the business manager for St Patrick's Cathedral, said the church had poured $250,000 into fighting the tower and Auckland City was now part-way through the $9.6 million upgrade of the civic square in which the cathedral sits.

The tower would have huge adverse effects on the area, he said, speculating the credit crunch might well crush the plans.

"We hope the current economic situation will prevent the developer from applying for building consent," he said.

The church fears domination, visual impact, shading and the sheer scale of the building at 51-53 Albert St between Wyndham St and Swanson St.

The apartment development would undermine the importance of the square's development and the cathedral foundations would be at risk if an underground carpark was built, Mr Sherlock said.

The church has just spent $13 million renovating and restoring the cathedral.

Property experts said yesterday that they doubted Mr Groves would go ahead with such a big project.

However, they said the approval would massively enhance the site's value.

Independent planning commissioners said the site was appropriate for such a huge tower.

"The scale of the development proposal, including its height, is one envisaged by the district plan provisions," they said. St Patrick's Square was already surrounded by tall buildings and Saffron's cafe on the square with through-site links would enhance the area.

The developer had already agreed to several conditions established by Bishop Pat Dunn and the cathedral parish, the commissioners said.

These concerned the potential structural effects from building next door to the cathedral.

The new tower was also "stepped back" making it a relatively slender building which would not dominate the surrounding area, including the square, they said.

The scale of the facades would be similar to the adjoining and surrounding buildings and would complement the streetscape.

A verandah on Albert St would enhance the area for pedestrians.

Jack Leigh, a former books editor of the New Zealand Herald, wrote an impassioned plea against Saffron in the autumn issue of Heritage New Zealand magazine.

The new tower would be just 14m from the cathedral and people valuing the human scale of the square would oppose it, he said.

Saffron would be Auckland's fifth tallest block and a structure of that design and scale in that location would be an anachronism in the town planning context, Mr Leigh wrote.

He cited opposition from lawyer Gregory Shanahan, who is the cathedral heritage appeal foundation's chairman.

SAFFRON
* Auckland's tallest apartment block.
* 46 levels of units and carparks.
* Taller than the 40-level Metropolis.
* On Macdonald Halligan Motors site in Albert St.
* 150 apartments and 95 carparks.
* Car-stacking system to be used.
* 15 mezzanine levels to be built.