Film fans in for $7m treat

By ANNE GIBSON

Auckland will get 34 new movie theatres in shopping malls as part of a deal to combine retailing with entertainment.

Four state-of-the-art cinema multiplexes will be built in key shopping malls, said the managers of Village Force and Westfield New Zealand.

The cinemas would open in the next three to four years, said Joe Moodabe, chief executive of Village Force.

The Manukau City mall is to get 10 new screens, St Lukes eight, Pakuranga eight and the planned Westfield mega-mall in Newmarket eight.

But the development would mean the closure of Village Force cinemas at Manukau and Newmarket, which Mr Moodabe said needed upgrading and changing.

"If we hadn't done this deal with Westfield, we would have been revamping our theatres anyway because the industry is changing so fast," he said.

Village Force would spend $6 million to $7 million fitting out the cinemas, he said.

It planned its first gold-class auditorium at Pakuranga - a fully catered cinema of only about 30 luxury seats, where patrons would pay more than $20 for an adult's ticket.

Westfield and Village Force already have an alliance at the revamped WestCity mall in Henderson, where an eight-screen complex opened in July.

Westfield New Zealand director John Widdup said work on the St Lukes project, part of a $55 million extension and upgrade of that centre, would start next month.

A new 700-seat food court, the addition of 38 specialty stores and 200 more car parks were part of the upgrade.

The cinemas, with large screens, stadium seating and digital sound, would open early in 2003 and would become the cornerstone of a second-level extension to St Lukes.

Level two would also feature a new galleria-style sky-lit mall with an extended mix of lifestyle, fashion and dining, he said.

Mr Widdup said St Lukes, built in 1971, was the flagship of the Westfield portfolio in New Zealand, with sales at present of $225 million.

"It is vital that its pre-eminent position is maintained, ensuring it incorporates the latest attractions and retail concepts."

Mr Moodabe said St Lukes was one of the last remaining inner-city suburbs which was not well served with entertainment options.

The expanded St Lukes would cover 37,000 sq m and was part of Westfield's plan to spend $1.2 billion in the next 10 years on improving and expanding its shoppingtowns.

A Westfield spokeswoman, Sue Warren, said the St Lukes work would take 14 months and generate about 1000 jobs in the building industry.

It would also create 300 permanent new jobs.

Mr Moodabe said Village Force had 59 screens in Auckland and Hamilton.

It would not suffer financially from leaving the Manukau and Newmarket properties because Westfield held the leases.

www.westfield.com.au