Manukau City Centre – Potential Future Development

Written by Ben Ross - Talking Auckland

One Idea for Manukau City Centre’s Urban Renewal

 

Manukau City Centre is arguably the core thus Central Business District for Southern Auckland. The area contains medium to high density office space, retail, the Westfield Mall, Council civic functions, the stalled construction of the tertiary MIT Building and Manukau Transport Interchange (although the train station is operating), the Counties Manukau Police HQ and Manukau District Court , and Rainbows End. The area is also flanked by big box retail and low density commercial office and retail (which includes two supermarkets and a large Westpac Bank), and Wiri industrial zone to the west. Transit wise Manukau is served by the following links:

  • State Highway One – The Southern Motorway
  • State Highway Twenty – The South Western Motorway and part of the Western Ring Route
  • Great South Road
  • State Highway 20B which feeds to Auckland International Airport
  • Te Irirangi Drive which connects Manukau to the eastern suburbs such as Botany and Howick
  • The North Island Main Trunk Line (heavy rail) and the Manukau Branch Line which comes of NIMT and feeds in Manukau Station.
  • Various other arterial roads feeding into immediate surrounding areas
  • Bus Interchange (currently outside the east entrance of Westfield Mall)

 

Manukau is surround by vast urban and rural areas (making upwards a third of Auckland’s entire population) that basically feed and support the city centre. Manukau is arguably the second core of Auckland after the main CBD.

Southern Auckland (basically everyone and thing from Otahuhu south to the Bombay’s) under the Unitary Plan is due to undergo massive growth over the next thirty odd years as Auckland marches towards two million people. I will be covering that march and the Unitary Plan in their respective posts as right now I want to start illustrating Manukau’s potential.

 

In brief I do not support the Council nor some in Transport Blog’s thinking that Auckland should have one single core – that being the CBD. I firmly believe with Auckland being so heterogeneous in its make up and needs (Auckland is basically a lot of villages meshed together) should at first support two cores (The CBD and Manukau) before going out to multiple cores to support the different Auckland sectors. I have mentioned all this before here at BR:AKL and I will dig those old posts up later. Thus with the amount of growth coming Southern Auckland’s way (let alone the rest of the city) in: residential, commercial, industrial, educational, health and civic capital; Southern Auckland needs its own unique core to support its existing base and the new comers over the next 30-years.

 

The good thing is Manukau has the foundations laid already at its City Centre in the form of some high density commercial office/service/retail developments, supporting civic infrastructure, educational facilities, transit systems, while flanked by industrial and residential activities. Heck we even have Rainbows End as well 😀  This means with vision and a willing Council, Manukau will be ready for investors and enterprising folk alike for the next stage of large-scale development and redevelopment of the City Centre.

I have already decided to put pen to paper – well use Sketch Up to coin out my own idea on what we could do for some nice brand new development in Manukau City Centre. Basically flipping over an open Council car park into a multiplex of office, retail, commercial services, public spaces and even accommodation – all right by the MIT and Manukau Interchange and no more than 100 metres away from Westfield Mall or the transit system (road and rail).

 

This is what I have come up with from a open car park to what is currently the Manukau Redevelopment MK2 (Update: Apartment Section Added to Multiplex):

Click individual pictures for full resolution

 

More work will occur on this potential development including some micro detailing on things like store fronts and open space accessories.

But in any case Auckland Council and its CCO Auckland Council Investment Limited (ACIL) have a perfect development gem here to further bolster the fortunes of Southern Auckland. The catch is do they have the vision and drive to do this, or just leave the place as a redundant desolate car park.

 

Time will tell I suppose.

2 thoughts on “Manukau City Centre – Potential Future Development”

  1. Great idea, I understood the reason for the new empty carpark would be to allow developments like this to go ahead. AC and ACIL should be looking to development some of the many carparks and surplus land they own in accordance with principle of Auckland Plan and Unitary plan.
    On a related note I am confused about the location of the proposed bus interchange. Some maps have illustrated it on the western end of the piece of land discussed above (opposite train station), while others have suggested it is part of the station/MIT campus itself.
    Can you shed any light on this?

    1. Thanks for that 😀

      The potential is there alright with those Council owned parking spaces like in Manukau, and the idea I posted is just one that could take shape.

      To my understanding despite work stalling on MIT and that interchange, the interchange itself will be straddling both the MIT site and the western piece. I will need to ping AT for this and see what they have

Comments are closed.