An artist's impression of what the new NZ Blood Donor Service centre and Manawa Energy head office could look like. Photo / Supplied
An artist's impression of what the new NZ Blood Donor Service centre and Manawa Energy head office could look like. Photo / Supplied
A $16 million commercial building in Tauranga’s CBD that will house the headquarters of Manawa Energy and New Zealand Blood Service’s new donor centre has been given the green light.
The Tauranga City Council has issued a building consent valued at $16m for a five-storey office building on 93 CameronRd. It was one of 14 commercial building consents with a total value of $21m issued by the council last month.
The building, which includes an underground car park and four storeys of office space, will become the new head office for Manawa Energy and a new blood donor centre three times bigger than its original space.
Blood Service donor services director, Doug Gallagher, said he was “excited” about the prospect of having a new, purpose-built facility in Tauranga that was designed “with the donor at heart”.
“Having more donor beds and more opportunities to book appointments over time will ensure we can keep pace with the increasing demand for blood and blood products locally and nationally.”
Gallagher said the new centre was part of a long-term project to increase collection capacity across New Zealand.
“Currently, we have 1048 plasma donors and 2195 blood donors in Tauranga but we need 615 new plasma donors and 317 new blood donors to join the registry during the 2023 financial year.
“As Tauranga has grown, so too has the demand for blood and plasma in the area.”
New Zealand Blood Service donor services director Doug Gallagher. Photo / Supplied
He did not know how many jobs this would create at the blood service.
Gallagher said the NZ Blood Service collected 12,686 blood and plasma donations during the last financial year. For the current financial year, its donation target was 14,820.
“This new facility will give us the ability to grow and future-proof our critical, lifesaving service,” he said.
“In the meantime, we are asking people to check if they are eligible and start their donation journey with us by booking an appointment before they go on holiday this Christmas. Give blood, give plasma, give hope this summer.”
After the sale of its retail business to Mercury, Trustpower’s power generation business became Manawa Energy. The business will move into its new national head office on Cameron Rd early 2024.
Manawa Energy’s community engagement and communications adviser, Annie Tangata, said it felt “fantastic” to have the project under way.
“We look forward to being a part of the growth and revitalisation of the Tauranga CBD.
“Manawa Energy’s roots are in Tauranga and it is from here we connect with our regional assets throughout Aotearoa.”
Tangata said the company had more than 150 people based at its current head office on Durham St.
The staff were part of the local community and “love the work-life balance that living in the sunny Bay of Plenty provides”, she said.
“The new office will be larger than our current space on Durham St. The move to a purpose-built head office on Cameron Rd will allow us to scale up to better support our growing renewable energy portfolio around the country.”
Tyler Tabak, national development manager at Wallace Development Company Limited, which bought the site, said the project, which included four storeys plus an underground car park, was “well under construction”.
Plans for the project were announced in July last year and Tabak said it was “great” to be finally given the go-ahead.
“The front end of the project has been challenging, with consenting timeframes and the general market conditions, supply chain...”
Tabak said Tauranga’s CBD was “turning a corner” with Thirty Eight Elizabeth St, the Craigs Investment Partners headquarters at 2 Devonport Rd, Northern Quarter, and the Civic precinct under way or almost complete.
“There is a lot going on at the moment. Businesses like Manawa and NZ Blood Centre who are already in the CBD are quality companies looking to reestablish their presence in the CBD, which is a main driver for us.”
The building was expected to be occupied in early 2024, he said.
Building consents - October 2022
Major consent applications issued - value over $1m
12 Pitau Rd
Two three-level, three-bedroom dwellings with attached double garage (duplex)
$1,100,000
33 Gloucester Rd
Stage 1 of a two-stage application - includes only the structural raft slab and podium to level 1 with under-slab services to the top of the ground floor slab.
$1,050,000
52 Condor Drive
Extension to the clubhouse. Enlargement to dining rooms, new dance floor, new external deck and new billiards rooms. All are attached to the existing clubhouse and adjustment to car parking.
$2,000,000
32 Ranui St
Demolish dwelling and construct two-storey, four-bedroom dwelling with attached double garage and pool and retaining wall.
$1,200,000
288 Cambridge Rd
Construct a single-level, three-bedroom house with an attached single garage with retaining wall.
$1,300,000
14 Ebbtide Way
Construct a single-level, three-bedroom dwelling with an attached double garage.
$1,005,865
93 Cameron Rd
Stage 2 building work for proposed 5-storey office building.
$16,000,000
Total (residential and commercial): 126
Total value (residential and commercial): $46,776,990
