Light on the horizon for Wainuiomata mall
A $60 million redevelopment of a rundown shopping mall has been given the green light.
The Hutt City Council has granted Woolworths New Zealand consent to convert the indoor Wainuiomata Shopping Centre to an open-air development.
The consent shows that parts of the existing mall will be demolished, and development will include a 3600-squaremetre supermarket, retail shops, and childcare and medical centres.
The long-awaited redevelopment will be a shot in the arm for the suburb, which has benefited more than most from the regional housing boom.
Real Estate Institute figures show that the median house price there in July increased from $233,000 in 2014 to $450,000 in 2019. House sales also rose from 211 to 338 in that time.
Despite an influx of house buyers, services and amenities have been vacating Wainuiomata, with the last full-service bank branch and a post outlet having closed last year.
Retailers have all but abandoned the centre, which was built in the 1970s, and it has gone from community hub to a strong contender for New Zealand’s saddest shopping area.
Only two out of 24 retail spaces are now occupied. A supermarket, a Work and Income office and a McDonald’s outlet are also located at the site.
The new shopping centre is expected to be completed by late 2020. The existing supermarket will continue to operate throughout the works.
Lower Hutt Mayor and Wainuiomata resident Ray Wallace said the suburb was rapidly changing and the new shopping centre development would suit the modern needs of the suburb.
‘‘Wainui’s on a roll. We’ve got the biggest number of housing developments we’ve ever seen, the cycleway over the hill . . . and the new retirement village.
‘‘[The shopping development is] nothing but a positive.’’
It was clear that the old mall was out of date and run down, he said, and the centre would enhance the nearby central shopping area and reduce the need for people to ‘‘go over the hill’’ to central Lower Hutt and Petone to do their shopping.