Downtown development unveils what’s on the menu
Commercial Bay has announced its line-up of food and beverage operators. Precinct Properties’ $1 billion shopping and commercial complex is set to open in September and will house 44 food and beverage operators.
A Michelin-star chef will be in the precinct, along with American restaurant Saxon + Parole, a flagship restaurant by New Zealand chef Ben Bayly, a handful of “millennial food truckers”, and a Hawaiian-style poke bar by celebrity chef Sam Choy imported from North America.
London-based Genuine Liquorette and Mexican-inspired tequila and mezcal bar Ghost Donkey will each open a cocktail bar, along with another called The Lodge Bar by Matt Lambert.
A chocolate bar by Honest Chocolat will open in the site and a craft beer bar — whose operator has not been yet disclosed — will trade on the ground floor.
Other vendors include cafes, popular Middle Eastern eatery Fatima’s, Burger Burger, Malaysian fast-casual eatery Hawker and Roll and juice bar Cali Press.
Commercial Bay’s food hall concept Harbour Eats, located on the second level of the complex, will house around 27 operators including food truck brands Kai Eatery and Got Pasta, and will have up to 700 seats.
Precinct Properties senior development manager Tim Woods said food and beverage would make up around 30 per cent of retail tenants in the precinct.
The complex would be open late into the evenings to tap into Auckland’s growing night economy, he said.
“We’re going beyond the typical nine-to-five work day in the CBD
because the biggest growth market for us is tourists and residents. They are attracted to an evening economy and a weekend destination — our leasing strategy reflects that,” Woods said.
The intention was that Commercial Bay would act as an “extension of the CBD” with customers in the centre at all times, Woods said. “We see the centre as a transition to a global [city], how customers would typically use a city in any global location in the world like Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York — our operators are aligned with that approach.”
Auckland’s night economy is valued at $470 million and has grown at a rate of around 7 per cent each year over the past two years, making up nearly a third of the city’s overall spend — valued at more than $1.5b.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said hospitality and entertainment accounted for the bulk of night economy spending but there were growth opportunities for other sectors, including late-night shopping.
“Looking at other major cities around the world with buzzing nighttime economies, a common feature is late-night retail and extended shopping hours,” Beck said.
She said a number of stores in the city traded until at least 7pm during the week but she expected many more to do the same once Commercial Bay opened.
“Commercial Bay will be a tipping point for developing the late-night retail trade in the city centre — and that other businesses in the area will likely line up with consistent trading hours to follow suit.” The New Zealand International Convention Centre and events such as America’s Cup will move the city forward in terms of the night-time economy too, she said.
Retail analyst Chris Wilkinson said globally, progressive cities were turning their attention to the evening and night economies to support economic growth and respond to changing lifestyles.
“Consumer demands are changing,” Wilkinson said. “More people are using public transport, disrupters like Uber are transforming the way people are moving and dining, Lime scooters are driving microconnectivity,
while online is continuing to challenge the way we shop,” he said.
Wilkinson said Auckland city needed to become a disrupter by changing the way it operates and delivers hospitality, shopping and entertainment experiences to keep up with the rate of changing consumer behaviour.
“With more visitors in the city for both leisure and business reasons, shops will have greater opportunity for evening trade. We’ll see an evolution in the way our stores and hospitality operators respond to these opportunities.”
Commercial Bay is running about a year behind original plans. The shops were due to open last November, but H&M is so far the only retailer operating there.
Shops are now scheduled to open in September this year.