Sylvia Park’s extension waiting to get green light
Ambitious plans aim to create ‘world-class’ shopping mall. Catherine Harris reports.
Kiwi Property’s $280 million plan to extend Sylvia Park still appears to be well and truly alive, although most of it has yet to be confirmed.
The country’s biggest listed property company, Kiwi has plans to build 20,000 square metres of new retail space at a cost of $180m, and a 11,200sqm, nine-level office building above the existing dining lane with 700sqm of ground floor retail.
The office plan, if it goes ahead, will cost $80m, in addition to the $19.2m currently being spent on two new stores for overseas fashion giants H&M and Zara.
Kiwi has made no secret of its aspirations to make Sylvia Park a ‘‘world-class’’ shopping mall, attracting shoppers from all over the Auckland region.
Last year it raised $148m in capital in preparation for the expansion plan, which so far is being used to reduce debt. But in its annual report, Kiwi said the expansion plans would be staged and ‘‘market-led’’.
The retail expansion would include more carparking, a new generation ‘‘cafe court’’ and potentially one or more new department stores, and is slated to start in 2017, taking five years.
Construction of the office development could potentially begin later this year with a completion target of 2018. It would include bike parks, a new alfresco dining precinct at ground level and a new town square.
Kiwi also confirmed this week that it would not be buying the second half of Hamilton’s The Base shopping centre. The company recently secured a ground lease for half of the centre for $192.5m in cash and stock from Waikato iwi subsidiary Tainui Group Holdings.
At the time, the iwi said it would ask its members to vote on a sale, but has since decided to hold onto its stake.