New World Victoria Park site cleared after fire as rebuild options assessed

The site of a burned-out New World supermarket now lies almost entirely bare, despite industry bosses’ previous claims that the building would not undergo a complete demolition.

New World Victoria Park was completely destroyed in a devastating fire in June, with just the blackened remnants of the popular store left behind.

This week, the Herald spotted significant changes had been made to the site, and the walls had been removed.

In July, Lindsay Rowles, Foodstuffs North Island retail and property general manager, said a complete demolition of the central Auckland store was not envisaged.

A Foodstuffs spokesperson said the plan has always been to make the site safe and clean. Photo / Supplied

Instead, it was thought the three-level store at 2 College Hill, Freemans Bay, could possibly be repaired before it could potentially be reopened in 2027.

“We’ve made the decision that we will be replacing the Vic Park store with a supermarket. It will be two years. We have already put our design teams together to start thinking about how it might all work and fit together,” Rowles said.

The fire caused extensive damage to the New World Victoria Park supermarket. Photo / Annaleise Shortland

But this week the store appeared to be largely demolished, with no sign of the building visible from the road.

A Foodstuffs spokesperson told the Herald the plan has always been to make the site safe and clean.

“Following the fire on June 17, we have removed the damaged parts of the store’s superstructure – including the roof, walls and contents.

“The concrete slab and underground carpark have been retained and will be subject to engineering assessment.”

Thick black smoke engulfed Auckland city after a fire broke out at the New World supermarket in Victoria Park. Photo / Dean Purcell

They said after this, the company will be in a better position to make decisions about the future of the building, including preparing plans for a new supermarket.

“We are fully committed to the site and are assessing options for a new New World supermarket to serve the local community,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier this month, Fire and Emergency New Zealand released new, detailed information about the blaze, but the cause of ignition is still “yet to be determined”.

Customers were forced to drop their shopping and leave the store when the fire alarm sounded mid-morning.

Workers and panicked shoppers spilled out on to the road as thick black smoke flooded out of the building.

Firefighters took more than 10 hours to put out the massive blaze.

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.