Council plans apartments for Westhaven

Waterfront Auckland seeks developers for a mixed-use project at Auckland’s Westhaven Marina, writes Greg Ninness.

THE AUCKLAND COUNCIL’S waterfront development arm is staying tight-lipped on plans to develop a mix of apartments, shops and offices at Westhaven Marina.

Westhaven, located next to the Auckland Harbour Bridge, is one of the city’s best-known landmarks and is owned by Waterfront Auckland, the Auckland Councilowned agency charged with developing much of the city’s downtown waterfront areas.

Waterfront Auckland is proposing to build five new buildings directly adjacent to the marina.

They would be situated on a site of just less than one hectare located between the western edge of the marina and the Harbour Bridge’s Ponsonby offramp.

Most of the site is currently used as a car park but it also houses the marina’s management offices and a toilet and shower block used by boaties. Waterfront’s Auckland’s plans describe the area as ‘‘a currently unutilised, unproductive site’’.

They say the development will ensure the marina ‘‘continues to be internationally competitive and is fit for purpose now and in the future’’.

The five new buildings to be built on the site would provide 10,600sq m of new retail, office and residential space.

It appears that Waterfront Auckland has already held discussions with at least one business with a view to it taking a significant portion of the new space.

The plans state that the largest building would be occupied by sailmaking company North Sails and would include a sail loft and associated ground floor offices and a chandlery.

North Sails is currently located a short distance away on Packenham St, which runs between Westhaven and the Viaduct Harbour.

Public access to the area would