Reserve Bank seeks tenants for central Wellington building

The RBNZ building has views of Parliament and Wellington Harbour. Photo / Supplied

Five large office floors in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) building in Wellington are now available for lease.

The 915sq m floors in the landmark 14-level building at 2 The Terrace - across the road from Parliament in central Wellington - are being marketed for lease by Phil Humphrey of Colliers International.

The opportunity to occupy space in an iconic building in the heart of Wellington's corporate and government precinct will interest to a range of substantial office occupiers, says Humphrey.

"This is a prestigious address in a landmark building at the northern end of The Terrace. It offers impressive views overlooking Parliament and the harbour, as well as a location in a highly desirable part of Wellington's CBD."

The building has a high level of seismic strength, engineers having confirmed it achieves 100 per cent of new building standard (NBS) at importance level 3 (IL3).

This is equivalent to 130 per cent NBS at the normal lower IL2 commercial office standard - placing it in an exclusive group of 100 per cent IL3 buildings, Humphrey says.

"Large government and corporate tenants generally demand between 70 per cent and 100 per cent NBS, and seismic strength has become even more important to businesses in light of the recent 7.8 quake."

It has 100 per cent backup power from standby diesel generators, which can support the building's power load indefinitely.

"This building's levels of seismic resilience and power backup are offered by few other Wellington buildings. They will be considered highly desirable characteristics among tenants," says Humphrey.

The floors will be refurbished and made available in two stages: levels three, five and six in mid-2017 and levels 10 and 11 at the beginning of 2019. This follows a RBNZ workspace efficiency project, as well as the departure of the State Services Commission as a result of the Wellington Accommodation Project (WAP2).

"The RBNZ has redesigned its office space to become more efficient, along the lines of the recent moves by central government to improve efficiency in its use of property," Humphrey says. "The building is owned and managed by RBNZ, which has committed to a major internal refurbishment project, so it makes good commercial sense to optimise its own asset."

Flexibility is offered for tenants to occupy part of a floor, as well as taking a whole floor or multiple floors depending on their size and space requirements.

The building provides a concierge service, security and a shared tenant space with new shower facilities and bike storage.

It is close to rail and bus transport, as well as hotels including the Bolton, Sofitel and Park Hotel.