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Auckland City
Centre Advisory Board
29 June 2016
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City Centre Progress Update for the Auckland City
Centre Advisory Board - to 20 June 2016
File No.: CP2016/13155
Purpose
1. To update the Auckland City Centre Advisory Board
(ACCAB) on progress on City Centre projects to 20 June 2016.
2. The
report provides a high-level overview of progress on projects and initiatives
in the city centre, including:
a. City Centre
Targeted Rate projects
b. Other City Centre
projects
c. City Centre
strategies / initiatives
d. Forward Planner
(Attachment A)
For each project, a coloured bar shows
the three stages of development:
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 Feasibility /
Investigation
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Design /
Consultation
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Construction
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An arrow then shows what stage
the project is currently at.
Executive summary
3. Myers
Park Upgrade – Stage 2:
i) Discussion underway with public art team
regarding design and funding of the public art component.
ii) Commencement
of construction is forecast for September 2016.
4. Pioneer Women’s and Ellen Melville Hall and Freyberg Square Upgrade:
i) Construction
package gone out to closed tender on GETS, closing 22 June.
ii) Construction planned to commence August 2016 and is anticipated to be completed
by August 2017.
iii) Council is working closely with Heart of the
City, business owners and residents in the area to reduce, as much as possible,
the potential negative impacts of the construction.
5. Karangahape Road Streetscape Enhancement:
i) Working
draft of the concept plan is progressing through the design review stage with
internal stakeholders and other review steps such as the capital projects
accessibility group.
6. Britomart
Streetscapes – Stage One: Galway Street:
i) A funding agreement between Auckland Council and Cooper
and Company has been signed.
ii) Construction
began 14 June and is due to be completed by October.
7. City Rail Link
i) On 2 June a ceremony was
held outside Britomart to mark the breaking of ground for the official start of
the CRL project, the biggest construction project New Zealand has ever
seen. More than 100 years in the making, the City Rail Link's two tunnels
will link up Auckland's existing rail infrastructure to double the speed and
capacity of the rail network.
8. Downtown
Public Spaces
i) A hearing for the Downtown Shopping
Centre Plan Change Environment Court appeal is scheduled for 18 July 2016. The
writing of evidence has been completed and shared with all parties.
ii) Conferencing is scheduled for 23 and
24 June.
iii) Council
is scoping the proposed development to identify proposed project timeframes and
high level preliminary cost estimates.
9. Wynyard
Quarter Redevelopment
i) Construction
of the 650 seat ASB Waterfront Theatre is well underway and expected to be open
for use by October 2016.
10. Learning
Quarter
i) Scope of projects progressing:
o Albert Park safety
o Grafton Road safety improvements
o Symonds/Alfred/Grafton intersection
o Symonds/St Paul St intersection
o Eden Crescent/Short St intersection
o Princes Street rehabilitation and potential cycle lanes
o Alfred Street safety improvements
o St Paul’s Street
o Lower Governor Fitzroy Place
o Wellesley Street
pedestrian overbridge
ii) The
Learning Quarter bus improvements study began in March. Engagement with
key stakeholders will continue over the next six months.
11. Quay
Street Interim Cycleway
i) Construction
began on 7 March and the cycleway is due to open in July 2016.
12. City
Centre Intelligence Unit
i) The Development Programme Office (DPO) is establishing the City
Centre Intelligence Unit. The purpose of the CCIU is to collect, analyse and
disseminate information about all development (public and private) in the City
Centre.
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Recommendation/s
That the Auckland City Centre
Advisory Board:
a) receive the City Centre
progress report, updated to 20 June 2016.
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Comments
City Centre Targeted Rate Projects
13. O’Connell
Street Shared Space
i) An
artwork has been considered for O’Connell Street following completion of the
shared space. The concept is for a suspended artwork attached to
buildings on either side of the street. The owners at 5 and 10 O’Connell
St have in principle agreed that the artwork will be attached to their
buildings. Both property owners have signed letters of intent.
ii) We are
currently performing a structural review of the two buildings to determine the
feasibility and costs of attaching the art works to the building. We are
working with the Artist and their fabricator to update fabrication costings. We
have met with Auckland Council Consents to review the consenting issues and
requirements.
14. Myers Park Upgrade – Stage 2
i) Discussion
underway with public art team regarding design and funding of the public art
component.
ii) Heritage
New Zealand authority was granted end of February and Resource Consent was granted mid-April 2016. Building Consent,
final Auckland Transport technical approval and Engineering Plan Approval have
been lodged. Pricings are being awaited, and are expected at the end of June.
iii) The
commencement of the construction works is now forecast for September 2016,
subject to the successful supplier’s programme.
iv) Additional
site investigation for the splash pad construction was carried out and the
project will be delivered through a separate procurement process. The
construction of the splash pad will commence in late-July 2016 and is planned
to be completed for the summer season 2016 / 2017.
15. Beach Road Maori Artwork
i) Five
bronze sculptures of working waka prow are proposed to be located on the
existing “waka plinths” between Britomart Place and Tangihua Street by November
this year.
16. Pioneer
Women’s and Ellen Melville Hall and Freyberg Square Upgrade
i)
Resource consents have been granted for the
upgrade to Ellen Melville Hall and Freyberg Square.
ii)
The construction package has gone out to closed
tender on GETS, with tenders closing 22 June.
iii)
Construction is planned to commence in August
2016 and is anticipated to be completed by August 2017.
iv)
Staff are planning a programme of activation and
mitigation opportunities, in collaboration with residents, Heart of the City
and business owners, that can be implemented during the construction phase of
the Ellen Melville Centre and Freyberg Square upgrade. These will be discussed with stakeholders at a meeting on 22 June
2016.
17. High Street District Framework
i) The
purpose of the framework is to explore and document how the needs of multiple
stakeholders in the precinct can be best met and to document the roles that
multiple parts of the council family can play to meet the needs of the
precinct.
ii) The
first step for the framework is completing a number of intercept surveys in the
High Street District to understand current perceptions of the district. The
surveys are planned to be undertaken in July.
18. Karangahape
Road Streetscape Enhancement
i) The
working draft of the concept plan is progressing through the design review
stage with internal stakeholders and other review steps such as the capital
projects accessibility group.
ii) Traffic
modelling and testing of designs with interface projects such as CRL, Light
Rail Transit and Bus Network Improvements has been on-going.
iii) The
Open Streets event along Karangahape Road was held on Sunday 1 May and was an
opportunity to discuss with the public the space allocation cross sections and
how the enhancements could look and feel. 1841 members of the public
provided feedback on the sample cross sections and another 140 engaged online.
iv) A
pedestrian intercept survey of the entire project area has been recently
completed to gauge perceptions of the street and potential upgrade. A
survey of K Road Business Association members is currently underway. The
findings will be fed into design thinking, with a post construction survey to
gauge whether the objectives and goals of the project have been achieved
19. Britomart Streetscapes –
Stage One: Galway Street
i) A funding agreement between Auckland
Council and Cooper and Company has been signed. The agreement will enable the
staged transfer of funding for the upgrade of parts of Galway Street, Gore
Street and Customs Street East.
ii) Project is progressing well with
construction having begun on 14 June. The upgrade is anticipated to be
complete in October.
20. Federal Street upgrade
i) Work has
commenced on a reference design for future upgrade of Federal Street and the
adjoining side-streets.
21. Hobson
and Nelson Street upgrade
i) Discussions
have begun with NZICC (Sarah Ballantyne) regarding a partnership approach to
the public realm improvements on Hobson and Nelson Street around the new
facility.
ii) Initial
staging of the streetscape upgrades will be aligned with construction of the NZ
International Convention Centre, indicating a potential construction start in
2017.
Other City Centre Projects
22. City Rail Link
i) On 2 June a ceremony was
held outside Britomart to mark the breaking of ground for the official start of
the CRL project, the biggest construction project New Zealand has ever seen.
More than 100 years in the making, the City Rail Link's two tunnels will link
up Auckland's existing rail infrastructure to double the speed and capacity of
the rail network.
ii) Lower Queen Street will
become the city’s newest activation space now that buses have been relocated.
It will be transformed into a flexible, multi-use space for large to small
events while providing pedestrian movement through the area.
23. Lower
Queen St & Albert St Reinstatement upgrades
i) The financial contribution to these
projects has been considered as part of the review of the City Centre Targeted
Rate Work Programme and the Auckland City Centre Advisory Board has endorsed
contributing $20 million for the reinstatement of Albert Street and $10 million
for the reinstatement of Lower Queen Street.
24. Downtown Public Spaces
i) There is a current appeal to the Environment
Court concerning the proposed rezoning of QEII Square. The hearing is
scheduled for 18 July 2016.
ii) Council
is currently reviewing feasibility work completed to date and scoping
the proposed development to identify project timeframes and high level
preliminary cost estimates.
25. Quay
St Seawall Seismic Upgrade
i) The decision to proceed with the Quay Street
seawall seismic upgrade can be made independently of any decision affecting the
downtown Public Spaces.
26 Ferry Basin Redevelopment
i) Council and AT are currently considering
options to fund an initial feasibility study.
27. Westhaven Promenade
i) Stage
2 is currently in the concept design phase – design is programmed for 2016/17
and construction is budgeted for in the 2017/18 financial year.
28. Wynyard Quarter Redevelopment
i) Panuku and Auckland Transport are completing
streetscape upgrades within Wynyard Quarter. Panuku is delivering Madden
Street and Pakenham Street. The first two phases of Madden Street opened
in April 2016.
ii) The upgrade of Pakenham Street between Daldy
St and Halsey St began on April 2016.
iii) Construction of the 650 seat ASB Waterfront
Theatre is well underway and expected to be open for use by the October 2016.
29. Learning
Quarter
i) The Learning Quarter Working Group has been established and has
representation from the University of Auckland, AUT, the Development Programme
Office, the Auckland Design Office, Auckland Transport and Resource Consents.
A number of projects have been identified and a prioritization process is
underway. Projects being investigated include:
o Albert Park safety
o Grafton Road safety improvements
o Symonds/Alfred/Grafton intersection
o Symonds/St Pauls St intersection
o Eden Crescent/Short St intersection
o Princes Street rehabilitation and potential
cycle lanes
o Alfred Street safety improvements
o St Paul’s Street
o Lower Governor Fitzroy Place
o Wellesley Street pedestrian overbridge
ii) The Learning Quarter bus improvements study began in March.
Engagement with key stakeholders will continue over the next six months.
30. Cycle
Network
i) Nelson Street Cycleway– comprised of stages as follows:
ii) Nelson St Bridge and
Off-ramp (NZTA) – Completed
iii) Nelson St Off-ramp to Quay
St
a. Stage 1 – Union St to Victoria St – Completed
b. Stage 2 – Victoria St to Quay St –
Construction of the cycleway is planned to be completed by April 2017.
iv) Quay
St Interim Cycleway
a.
Construction began on 7 March and
the cycleway is due to open in July 2016.
31. Sky
Path
A report on the SkyPath proposal will go to Finance and
Performance Committee on 21 July 2016. Council will be presenting on the
commercial elements of the hybrid PPP proposal from the private sector.
City Centre Strategies / Initiatives
32. City Centre Intelligence Unit
i) Auckland
Council and Auckland Transport are currently recruiting for positions with a
construction liaison focus. The roles will enable the council family to build
stronger relationships with the development community by providing an
integrated link to City Centre construction programmes.
33. Precinct Frameworks
i) Framework
documents are underway for key city centre precincts, to collate planning and
project information and inform decisions on projects and initiatives.
a. Downtown – complete.
b. Aotea – complete (endorsed by the Auckland
Development Committee in February 2016).
c. Learning Quarter – implementation plan is
underway.
d. High Street District – underway.
e. Victoria Quarter – to commence 2016 (tbc).
f. Quay Park - the third workshop of key stakeholders (Council, AT,
POAL, NZTA, Ngati Whatua and Kiwirail) was held on 1 March.
34. Central Wharves Strategy
The Central Wharves Strategy will be
informed by early outcomes of the Port Future Study, due mid 2016.
35. Digital Auckland
i) Work is
continuing with good progress on all of the Digital Auckland initiatives.
Consideration
Local
board views and implications
36. The Waitemata Local Board has
been engaged with on all City Centre projects that are actively progressing.
Specific engagement with the board is included in the project plans for
individual projects. The board is generally supportive of the direction being
taken.
Māori
impact statement
37. Monthly hui are being held
throughout 2016 with iwi representatives, with the purpose of seeking mana
whenua input into the scoping and design process of City Centre projects.
38. The most recent hui was held
on 10 June.
Implementation
39. Prior to the implementation
of City Centre projects and initiatives, regular meetings and workshops are
held with many stakeholders including the Waitemata Local Board, Heart of the
City, Learning Quarter stakeholders, iwi and the Auckland Development
Committee.
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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aView
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Meeting Topics - Forward Planner
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31
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Signatories
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Author
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Catherine Edmeades - Development Programmes Lead
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Authoriser
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André Lipa - Head of
Development Programmes
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