New Lynn unique high rise street in the sky

Work on stage two of west Auckland’s first high-rise has begun and will create a novel ‘street in the sky’.

Merchant Quarter Mews is being built beside the 10-storey apartment tower currently under construction on top of the roof of Auckland Council’s five-storey car park (future proofed by the council to ensure this build could happen) in McCrae Way, New Lynn.

Eighteen double-storey and two single storey maisonette apartments will form an open-air laneway on either side the carpark’s rooftop, believed to be unique in New Zealand.

The apartments are part of Auckland Council’s $35 million redevelopment of New Lynn’s Merchant Quarter which already features a new shared space, public car parking building, 7000 square metres of commercial and retail space and a main street upgrade - all sitting alongside the award-winning, underground rail station and public transport interchange.

Opposite the Merchant Quarter, a brownfield redevelopment precinct will be created. Crown Lynn will be a mixed-use neighbourhood built around a stunning new park. The council has a $38million budget for Crown Lynn which will make the single biggest contribution to achieving the vision target of 20,000 people living within walking distance of the transit station and help deliver on the Auckland Plan.

“There’s just something about New Lynn,” says Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse. “It’s got magic. It gave us the country’s first shopping mall 50 years ago and now we are seeing this stunning street in the sky concept. In its special fashion, New Lynn is showing the rest of Auckland what a vibrant, compact city can look like.”

The apartment tower featuring 110 one and two-bedroom apartments is due to be finished in June 2014 with the Mews completed in August. Work began in July last year and the rapid construction times are a result of a combination of methodology and concentration of effort by the builders.

“We can have up to 250 builders on site at peak times which means the job is done efficiently, effectively and quickly,” says Tasman Cook’s Vaughn Foster.

Nearly all of the tower apartments which offer great views have been sold, mainly to people planning to live there and some investors, meaning there will be apartments to rent. About 15 percent have been sold to older people looking to down-size and enjoy an accessible integrated, award-winning transport hub, a first-class medical centre and a more pleasant and pedestrian-friendly high street at the front door.

“Apartments are an increasing choice for many people and the tower builds on a number of projects already delivered in New Lynn,” says Ms Hulse. “New Lynn is rapidly becoming one of the most important town centres in Auckland to work, do business, go shopping and for bars, restaurants, cafes and entertainment.”

The Mews is being built by Kalmar Construction for developer Tasman Cook, who is also about to start two other significant projects - a 42 apartment block in Browns Bay and a complex called Brickworks at another town centre in the making, Hobsonville Point.

ENDS

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