City seeking new uses for its landmark

Hotel, homes, shops, arts venues . . . all are on the list, but first the asbestos has to go

Auckland Council’s Civic Building, which contains asbestos, could become a hotel or apartments and its ground floor converted into shops. Real estate consultancy JLL has been appointed to investigate options for the huge Greys Ave building on Aotea Square, and is talking to property investors and developers about its future.

JLL consultant Sarah Dominey and national research director Justin Kean said it could be suitable for continued office use, or as a hotel and residential conversion.

But it could also be converted for retail, leisure, arts and education purposes.

“Most of the asbestos is in the exterior of the north and south walls — 350 tonnes of it were removed from the building by the council in 1989 but that was in the accessible interior and to get to the next part is harder,” Kean said.

“If you’re refurbishing the building, getting rid of the asbestos is part and parcel of that. You would have to consider the asbestos in terms of the demolition.”

Two years ago, council chief executive Doug McKay said the $93 million cost of refurbishing the building for the 450 staff in it was not economic.

Demolition was an option, he said. The building was not listed as a heritage structure, but had architectural merit.

Architect Julia Gatley said the building was the city’s tallest at 19 storeys when it opened in 1966, and was a beautifully proportioned, slender building that encapsulated modernism.

A report on problems facing it included an estimated cost of $10 million for demolition.

Kean said the site was worth far more than that. It couldn’t be built out For the JLL statement go to nzherald.co.nz/

business and had incredible views.

The council has almost finished shifting staff into premises it bought for $104 million at 135 Albert St.

Auckland Council Property appointed JLL to manage a consultation process to gauge the level of interest in the building and understand market opinion about possible options.

Dominey said JLL wanted to talk to “significant” property developers and investors who could add value to the building and site and understand where they see an asset like this in the future of Auckland.

Kean said JLL’s aim was to give the council options to enhance and complement objectives for the overall Aotea precinct.

“We are looking for compatible future use outcomes that leverage off the arts, civic and entertainment nature of the precinct.”