Car park for Takapuna a major step closer

North Shore City Council has announced a proposal for a major development in Takapuna that includes a 750-space public car park.

The proposed 30-storey building on the corner of Auburn St and Huron St (the council-owned ‘Gasometer’ site), also includes more than 3500m2 of shops and restaurants, about 11,300m2 of prime office space, 105 residential apartments and a public plaza.

“This is great news for Takapuna, and will go a long way towards addressing the centre’s parking squeeze,” North Shore City’s strategic management committee chairman, Gary Holmes, says.

“It will also be good to see an under-used site becoming a magnet for investment, boosting the city’s economy and encouraging more people to live and work in Takapuna.

“Residents will benefit from the boost in car parking, which will provide an alternative for commuters to parking all day in residential streets,” Councillor Holmes says.

“Once the car park is open, we’ll be able to progressively implement other parking measures needed to address Takapuna’s parking woes.”

The ‘Merge’ building, planned by developers Location Group, would be the largest high rise building in Takapuna, at about 58,000m2 of floor space (including public car parking), and the second-tallest, at about 100m.

After nearly three years of negotiations, the council has accepted the latest proposal from Location Group to build the Merge development, including 750-space public car park.

Committee deputy chairman, and chair of the Takapuna Beach Business Association, Kevin Schwass, says the development would provide a much-needed boost to Takapuna’s central business district.

“I’m excited that we’re now a major step closer to this project getting off the ground, and the town centre stands to gain a vibrant new shopping and office precinct as well as much-needed parking,” Cr Schwass says.

“The Merge building plans focus on good urban design and environmental sustainability, creating a great public space for residents, shoppers and workers.”

Location Group’s managing director, Mark Weipers, says it is exciting to see the project taking a significant step forward after three years in the planning.

“I look forward to working with North Shore City Council to produce a development that will have tangible benefits for the community,” Mr Weipers says.

He says the project is still about a year away from the start of construction. “There will be a notified resource consent process to work through, although we have already made a lot of progress on the design.”

(ends)

© Scoop Media