NZ Convention Centre “Go” decision kicks off central Auckland building boom

Welcoming news that SkyCity plans to start construction on the NZ Convention Centre before Christmas, Auckland Chamber head Michael Barnett said it kicks off an exciting time for central Auckland’s continuing rapid growth.

He noted that other major construction projects due to get underway shortly include the Downtown Retail and Office tower, the 52-level NDG Centre building, the Central Rail Link with its Aotea Station complex, and at least two more international-scale hotels.

“The end result will be a boost in Auckland’s business activity, including generation of around 10,000 more jobs in the central city and a lot of construction work over the next five or so years.”

The convention centre will provide 800 of these jobs on completion and 1000 during construction, and give NZ a much needed facility for hosting world-scale conferences of up to 3100 delegates.

The boost in tourism spending in Auckland alone is estimated at $90 million and more than 100,000 additional visitor nights a year, with each delegate spending around $650 a day.

Noting that the resource consent included a plan to manage disruption during construction, Mr Barnett agreed that businesses overwhelmingly would welcome the long-term benefits it would bring to Auckland and NZ – especially the shopping and spending workers and delegates would bring in the central city, and long-term the flow-on spending across the country.

ENDS

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