Pacifica high-rise finally under way
Construction of a central Auckland 57-level apartment and hotel tower, The Pacifica, is under way as marketers continue to sell down the last units.
Advertising was launched more recently via an expressions of interest process from operators for the 35 hotel rooms and will run for another week, CBRE commercial marketing agent Warren Hutt said.
Cranes are on site and the first vertical columns are coming out of the ground at 10 Commerce St.
‘‘The hotel will occupy the first six levels fronting Commerce St with a separate lobby but sharing some of the amenities like the pool and gym. We’re also marketing the food and beverage space over two levels.’’
Hutt described the style of the hotel as similar to the existing De Bretts hotel and said it had attracted interest from operators.
They were being offered the freehold of 35 rooms and facilities.
‘‘We’ll look at the initial expressions of interest and select a group to take part in a second round to get an indication of pricing.
‘‘Hotel operators look at these things on a per-key basis and how much they expect to get from each room. Branding is very important.’’
Hutt said the hotel market was strong with average 85 per cent occupancy.
Marketing is also continuing for the apartments, which are priced from about $650,000, and $14 million in deposits have reportedly been paid on the three penthouses.
The Pacifica will change the Auckland skyline and be one of the tallest buildings in New Zealand at 178 metres, and is part of a $14 billion building boom under way in the City of Sails.
Apartment specialist City Sales owner Martin Dunn said The Pacifica marketers would be relieved to have the building under way because the market for new and existing apartments was risky for agencies when they spent money and projects didn’t go ahead.
There are a mix of buyers. According to research by CoreLogic about 40 per cent of Auckland residential properties were purchased by investors, movers 20 per cent, and first home buyers 26 per cent.
The piling work on the building was completed in February and the developer is completing ground slabs.
Gavin Lloyd, national director of residential projects for CBRE, said the apartments were going to be on average about 20 per cent larger than standard CBD apartments.
About one quarter lof the 282 apartments remain for sale.
A selection of one, two and three-bedroom apartments were available, with 34 floor plans to choose from.
Construction of The Pacifica is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, in time for the next America’s Cup.
Amenities will include a heated lap pool, sauna, steam room, spa, gym, media room, residents’ lounge, library and barbeque terrace. Car and motorbike parks, bike racks and storage cages are also available
The Pacifica is being built by Hengyi is a Melbourne-based developer since 2010. Hengyi is described as an ‘‘affiliate’’ of development group Shandong HYI a residential and commercial developer in the Shandong province of China.