Page 8 - HW July 2020

hard news
West Auckland’s retail arrivals – and departures
THE EVER-GROWING 56+ hectare Westgate retail development, North West of Auckland (photo opposite page), continues to see exponential growth in retail, albeit alongside some shrinkage.
Westgate is managed by New Zealand Retail Property Group and includes commercial, big box and street-based retail, entertainment, dining and o ce spaces, a town square, library and six hectares of public open space including parks and walkways.
In terms of Westgate’s already attractive and growing catchment, which stretches up to Kumeu, and out to Dairy Flat and Coatesville, a level of new arrivals akin to something like the population of Dunedin (currently approaching 129,000 people)
has been bandied about for some time although the residential developments required to house this in ux are yet to fully realised.
In terms of what’s coming, the arrival at Westgate next year of a key new destination retailer – the rst New Zealand Costco on a 14,000m2 site –
is eagerly anticipated, and not only by consumers but also surrounding retailers.
With the Costco development said
to be worth $90 million, alongside its staple groceries and homewares o ering, it’s reported the subscription retailer/ wholesaler giant will arrive here complete with a fuel station, tyre centre, food court, optometrist and hearing aid services and could employ as many as 350 FTEs.
Coming a lot sooner, with suppliers having laboured to ll the shelves at Westgate’s new Bunnings Warehouse during the second half of June, Bunnings’ NZ GM, Jacqui Coombes, has con rmed (with ngers rmly crossed) that store would be o cially opening its doors in the last week of July.
Having been on the cards since
2016, the new Bunnings store (photo below left) is on a roughly 15,500m2
site between Fred Taylor Drive and Te Oranui Way, close to the main Westgate centre, and it’s been reported to have an estimated completion value of $65-67 million.
Queenstown is next on the list of openings for Bunnings (for mid-2021), on a 1.6 hectare site formerly occupied by Shotover Garden Centre next to the Frankton-Ladies Mile Highway.
But back to Westgate and in terms of what’s there already, Mitre 10 MEGA Westgate – Mitre 10’s 38th MEGA back in 2014 – was “first cab off the rank” on its greenfield site and has been sitting pretty towards the northern end of Westgate ever since.
Although mindful of the impending competition, Mitre 10 MEGA Westgate owner-operator, Dave Hargreaves, is
6 NZHJ | JULY 2020
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