Waterfront stadium to cost $900m plus
The Eden Park Trust Board today released a report by international quantity surveying consultancy WT Partnership into
the cost to complete a waterfront stadium in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
On November 10 the Government released a cost estimate for the waterfront stadium of $498m ($498,848,000).
Since then WT Partnership has reviewed the Government’s figures line by line and put the cost of the waterfront stadium
at $902m ($902,250,000).
A second new peer review of the waterfront stadium costings by Davis Langdon, an international quantity surveying firm
with substantial experience in stadia, has estimated the waterfront costs at $912m.
The two peer reviews were conducted independently.
On top of the estimated $900m plus figure, Eden Park’s transport and engineering experts say additional expenditure on
improvements to Quay Street and to Britomart, would be required to service the transport needs of a waterfront stadium.
The $900m also excludes possible mitigation for affected parties, e.g. local businesses, waterfront apartment dwellers
and Port neighbours.
Key differences between the Government’s and WT’s estimates included allowances for:
Iconic design provisions to meet the expectations of the New Zealand public for a national stadium
Acceleration costs to compensate for extended working hours and double-shifting needed get the stadium completed on time
Relocation and land purchase costs for POAL
Contingencies
A negotiated contract (as opposed to a competitive tender).
WT Partnership also identified a number of missing elements from the Government’s cost estimate, including:
40 additional corporate boxes needed to meet IRB requirements
Corporate reserve seating fit-out
ICC cricket facilities including cricket practice nets.
Eden Park Chief Executive John Alexander said WT had put the base cost to construct the waterfront stadium at more than
$120m more than the Government’s estimate.
“These two new QS reports match up with industry benchmark figures of $9,000 per seat, for stadia seating more than
50,000 people,” Mr Alexander said.
“We challenge the Government’s cost-per-seat estimate of $6,000.”
Mr Alexander said that Eden Park’s design plans were well advanced, which meant that the Trust Board had a high level of
certainty over the redevelopment cost of $385m.
WT Partnership ( http://www.wtpartnership.com) is an international consulting quantity surveying practice. It has worked on a range of significant projects including
the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Stadium Australia, the proposed new stadium in Perth, Vector Arena, Britomart and Auckland
Art Gallery.
The report is available on request.
Ends