Auckland’s QE Square Sold for $27 Million

Auckland Council has sold Queen Elizabeth Square to developer Precinct Properties for $27.2 million. The company has been negotiating with the council since last year.

The company has announced the conditional purchase of the public space, as part of a deal in which the first stage of the City Rail Link will be built under land it owns. Precinct Properties owns the buildings around the Square and has been negotiating with the council since last year over its purchase, and how redevelopment would accommodate the rail tunnel.

However, Auckland councillor Mike Lee has said the sale of Queen Elizabeth Square to a private company is not a decision made with public interest in mind.

“This is a bad decision, not in the public interest, and this will be regretted for many decades to come, I can tell you that: the loss of that public open space, the enormous building that it facilitates, the minimal financial benefit to the ratepayer…”

Mr Lee said that though the developer has promised public space, it would have a different idea about what that actually looks like.

The Auckland Council has sold the square to developers Precint Properties for $27 million so it can make a start on the City Rail link. It will pay Precinct $9m for the land it loses due to the train tunnel, and about $11m for the extra cost of building its office tower over the tunnels. Chief executive Scott Pritchard said public space would be a design priority.

“When we bought the site we thought it was a great site for an office but what we’ve learned through the design process is that the retail opportunity, and the opportunity for public space is actually quite exemplar.

Read the full article on RNZ

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