New home for NZ Capital Markets
NZX Ltd is to establish a new New Zealand Capital Markets Centre in Auckland’s CBD when it relocates to the Tower building at 45 Queen St later this year.
The company has signed a longterm lease, with rights of renewal, over Level 15 of the building which is managed by AMP Capital. The lease commences on August 1, with NZX moving about 85 staff to its new Auckland premises.
Bayleys senior commercial broker Paul Hain, who negotiated the lease, says NZX will be relocating from just over 900 sq m of space on Level 7, Zurich House in Britomart Square, to approximately 946 sq m on the second top floor of 45 Queen St, on the corner with Customs St East.
“With their existing lease expiring, we were asked to undertake an assessment of the accommodation options available in the market and narrowed them down to a small number of possibilities,” says Hain.
“NZX had some fairly specific requirements including a central CBD location and a building suited to showcasing the company’s role at the heart of New Zealand’s capital markets – and as a new home for their electronic ticker, which displays upto-the-minute market data externally.
“The Tower building is located on one of the CBD’s busiest intersections. It has a good prominence and profile to high volumes of passing traffic as well as thousands of pedestrians waiting at and crossing the intersection daily on their way to and from the Britomart Transport Centre and the ferry terminal,” says Hain.
“The building has undergone a major refurbishment in recent years which has attracted a good mix of private sector and government office tenants as well as high-profile global retailers on the ground floor.”
NZX chief executive Mark Peterson says the New Zealand Capital Markets Centre will “modernise and reorientate our workspace in Auckland for the new operating environment, as well as giving us the opportunity to showcase NZX and our heritage over the past 150 years”.
“The new offices will host listing events, hybrid annual meetings for NZX issuers, investor presentations and enable media and digital broadcasts, along with the potential to showcase our business to community groups and schools.”
AMP Capital investment manager Craig Coote says NZX’s move and establishment of the NZ Capital Markets Centre will add further impetus to the repositioning of 45 Queen St at the quality end of the office and retail market.
“We are delighted to have a tenant of NZX’s calibre as one of our key office occupants – they will provide additional prestige and profile to the building.”
The Tower building underwent a substantial redevelopment in 2015 with a complete redesign of its lower levels undertaken by Ignite Architects.
The entry to the 17-level tower has been repositioned and a new atrium spans two storeys and incorporates The Lunchroom caf which overlooks Queen Elizabeth Square.
The building’s ground floor was rebuilt as quality retail space, with ANZ occupying the prominent corner site. On either side of the bank, the remaining retail space accommodates luxury retailers Prada, Dior and Swarovski plus Laser Clinics NZ.
Office tenants include Tower, which also has building naming rights, Emirates Airline, Mike Pero Mortgages and Insurances, legal, accountancy and financial advisory firms and government agencies.