An artist's impression of The Crossing Development at the Highbrook Business Park in East Tamaki. Picture / Supplied
Construction is projected to start shortly on the next phase of development at Highbrook Business Park in East Tamaki with the creation of The Crossing, a 24,700sq m mixed-use development that will include commercial, convenience retail and hospitality elements.
The Crossing has been designed to a four green-star standard by architectural firms Jasmax and CDA Architecture and stage one of development is scheduled for completion in early to mid-2013.
The development will incorporate offices, accommodation, restaurants, shops, entertainment facilities and a conference centre situated around an open-air public plaza in the heart of the business park.
The new development will add 17,300sq m of office, 4400sq m of retail and 3000sq m of serviced apartment accommodation to the estate, which already includes 240,000sq m of high-quality office and industrial facilities.
It is expected that the 107ha, world-class business park will eventually include 550,000sq m of office, industrial and retail space.
The Crossing will be owned by Highbrook Development, a joint venture between NZX-listed Goodman Property Trust, Fisher Nominees and Australia's Goodman Group.
Sam Gallaugher, office leasing broker at Colliers International, says The Crossing will boost the level of amenities available for people working at Highbrook, as well as providing an alternative retail option for the wider East Tamaki area.
"Four thousand people already work at Highbrook and this is forecast to increase to up to 12,000 when the business park reaches full capacity," Gallaugher says.
The Crossing's central focus will be a public plaza with a canopy-shaded area that will double as an entertainment space. Surrounding buildings will house ground-level convenience retail and cafes. Tenants already committed to the centre include Quest serviced apartments, NZ Post, Westpac, Hollywood Bakery and Kagura Sushi Bar.
Stage one of The Crossing includes a three-storey commercial building with 3160sq m of premium-grade office space on the eastern side of the plaza.
Across the plaza, another building is intended to house retail, a gym, conference centre and the 62-room Quest-serviced apartments/hotel complex, with a separate bar and restaurant building, called Icon, featuring a curved roof "floating" on wraparound floor to ceiling windows, and illuminated at night.
"Covered and uncovered carparking, green spaces and seating will complete the attractive public areas," says Matt Lamb, also an office leasing broker at Colliers International.
"The Crossing will be constructed to Highbrook's award-winning landscape master plan, and will create a valuable asset for the up to 40,000 commuters who use Highbrook Drive." Lamb believes this next phase of the Highbrook development will appeal to corporate tenants looking for premium-grade office space at competitive rent levels, alongside a commercial "heart".
"The Crossing will attract companies wanting to provide an attractive working environment for their staff and join the other top-tier businesses which are already based here. These include DHL, New Zealand Post, BMW, GEON, Steel & Tube, BNZ Partners, Westpac, ANZ and Ford New Zealand."
Goodman has so far developed about 45 per cent of the land at Highbrook Business Park, with most of that being a number of office buildings and large-scale warehousing facilities, along with 40ha of public parkland, including coastal walking paths.
Momentum has been maintained at the estate with four new development commitments secured in the past 12 months, adding a further 17,100sq m of warehouse and office space to the business park. Design-build projects are being undertaken for Plytech International, Scalzo Food Industries, National Aluminium and Panasonic New Zealand.
The most recent and largest of these commitments is from electronics manufacturer and distributor Panasonic. The area will become the company's national head office and distribution centre, accommodating its Auckland workforce.
The 7500sq m development will include 2200sq m of office and 5300sq m of warehouse space and 680sq m of canopy and associated yard area.
The elevated site encompasses 13,428sq m of land and is located on Sir Woolf Fisher Drive, close to the new mixed-use development at The Crossing.
Panasonic has agreed to a 10-year lease which includes a fixed review structure, further rights of renewal and future expansion options.
Michael Gimblett, portfolio manager at Goodman, says the company's philosophy for Highbrook is to manage the property over the long term.
"We will develop, own and manage the Highbrook project into the future in order to ensure that our vision for the development is preserved.
"This includes a large emphasis on public spaces and parkland."
Gimblett says HDL's vision was recognised in June this year with Highbrook winning the Supreme Award and the Award of Excellence in Urban Land Development at the property industry awards. The judges noted HDL's close collaboration with Auckland Council on the development.
Gallaugher says Highbrook Business Park's location, only 15 minutes from the Auckland CBD, makes it an attractive option for businesses considering relocation.
"On and off ramps to the Southern Motorway are just 1km from central Highbrook, and Auckland International Airport is 16km away."
Highbrook Business Park is located on the site of the former Ra Ora horse stud, which was owned by Sir Woolf Fisher, the philanthropist and co-founder of Fisher & Paykel.