Waka Kotahi forks out $28.5m on new offices
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has gone almost $4 million over budget in spending $28.5m on a new office which documents show was the deluxe option.
A 2021 business case, and the final 2023 cost, have been released under the Official Information Act with the former identifying risks of the move to Bowen St being “higher fit-out costs” and “public perception related to moving to a new building”.
They show that, even before the cost blow-out, the Bowen St option was the most costly of three short-listed options but had benefits including large, open floors, “excellent natural light” and proximity to transport.
The refit was originally budgeted at $24.8m but the final cost came in at $28.5m, even after $6m in cost-slashing on furnishings, technology, and materials. Waka Kotahi has 1100 staff in Wellington.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment faced criticism when it moved to Stout St in 2015 at a cost of $15.9m ($19.8m after adjusting for inflation) for its roughly 2000 staff. The Ministry of Education came under fire in 2016 for a $19.5m ($24.2m today) refit of its Bowen St office for roughly 1000 staff.
Waka Kotahi corporate services manager Jake Rance said its main Wellington base on Chews Lane was quake-prone and staff were split between it and the nearby Majestic Centre.
“It is important to note that the new Waka Kotahi office at 44 Bowen Street involves the fit out and lease of floors in a newly constructed building, not a refit of a pre-existing space,” Rance said.
“Therefore, the costs involved are not comparable to a refresh or refurbishment of an existing space.”
Waka Kotahi was advised a refit cost $2500 to $4000 per square metre and this cost $2943.
The transport agency has repeatedly found itself criticised for spending. There was a 2022 revelation that it spent $145m on consultants since 2019, the $85m it spent on advertising the $200m Road to Zero campaign, and increasing communications staff from 32 in 2017 to 88 - 56 of whom earn $100,000 or more. It is also a key partner in the $7.4b Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme, which has been beset with multiple cost blow outs.
National’s transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said the spend on the new offices was “another example of excessive expenditure on refurbishing offices in Wellington while our roads fall apart”.
Transport Minister David Parker would not comment.