Meta, Amazon, IBM, HP: Flexible leasing model at tech titan's Auckland offices changed
Precinct Properties CEO Scott Pritchard in Pipiri Lane, the former Flowers Building in Wynyard Quarter on Auckland's waterfront. Photo / Jason Dorday
Google isn't under the flexible leasing model but all the other tech giants are.
They are in Wynyard Quarter and Britomart offices owned by Precinct.
Pritchard announced the changes to Generator from Pipiri Lane – itself getting a new name for what has been called the Flowers Building, standing beside Beca's new headquarters.
Jess Curnow of Precinct Flex said the ground-floor socialising space of what was the Flowers Building will be called Halsey Traders.
The view from Pirpiri Lane on Halsey St. Photo / Jason Dorday
That area can accommodate about 80 people at a cocktail event, she said.
The ground floor also has a meeting suite with spaces ranging from a four-person meeting room to an executive boardroom for up to 14 people.
Level two has an event space and terrace overlooking the Viaduct Harbour.
It can host theatre-style events for up to 300 people, cocktail events for up to 500, or many different smaller events because it has room dividers to shut off and open up spaces.
Work is now concluding on Pipiri Lane, ready for it to be tenanted from September.
Pritchard said that will conclude a decade working in the Wynyard Quarter for Precinct.
Pipiri Lane is due to be ready to be tenanted from September. Photo / Jason Dorday
Is it over now?
No, he said. Precinct is working with Orams on a new scheme for its waterfront land on Beaumont St and Pritchard said plans for that block were coming together.
Precinct Flex was a natural evolution of the business, he said.
Nearly done – inside Pipiri Lane, Wynyard Quarter. Photo / Jason Dorday
'The change marks an important new chapter for our business. It's about bringing together our leadership in the flex space with our best-in-class commercial offering to provide our clients with a cohesive solution and seamless service,' he said.
Precinct doesn't lease flexible space by the square metre but rather by the desk, he said.
Precinct Flex leases desks to about 250 businesses including Fortune 500 companies, and multinational and New Zealand corporates, he said.
The remaining membership is made up of start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Precinct Flex leases desks in Britomart, at 12 Madden St in the Wynyard Quarter, in the PwC and HSBC towers and in Wellington's Bowen Campus and Waring Taylor St.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald's property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
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He likes the improvements along K Rd – wider footpaths, the cycleway, greenery and shrubs - but says parking is a big issue, and he's frustrated by the slow pace of work, including the year-long construction on a 50m stretch of Mercury Lane that's 'not anywhere near finished'. 'I'm not sure what the magic wand is,' admits the store manager, who believes the street needs a serious rethink to become a destination rather than just a thoroughfare. Right now, K Rd risks becoming a place people rush through, rather than linger in. Fowlie is concerned that the area's role as a major bus and transport corridor could shape its identity in an unintended way. 'One of the risks of being a bus corridor and transport route is that you end up with a few convenience stores around the station entrances. 'Public transport centres around the world are not renowned for being particularly nice. They are usually pretty depressed and crappy and full of rubbish and down-and-out people. We have to have a serious think, so we don't end up like that around the CRL stations.' Fowlie says businesses are clinging to the hope that the CRL will bring a wave of revitalisation. But he also warns that the rail link's arrival will trigger fresh development, and with it, more years of construction and disruption. Hemp Store manager Chris Fowlie. Photo / Jason Dorday Holloway says Fowlie is not wrong about post-CRL development, but hopes the new construction will be in chunks that are easier to chew. After years of disruption and delays to the CRL – now pushed back from its original 2024 opening to mid-2026 – K Rd businesses are bracing for yet another challenging year. 'It'll feel like another round in a boxing match,' Holloway says. Adding to the pressure is the persistent sight of empty storefronts. 'There are 23 shops up for lease,' Holloway notes, a figure that mirrors 2022 levels, and a source of sleepless nights in the battle to restore vibrancy. In anticipation of the CRL, new businesses are moving in: Toa Architects, bars A Space and Frog; Mexican restaurant Sagrado Cantina, and art galleries Coastal Signs and Charles Ninow. And yesterday, it was announced that a $100 million, 11-storey timber office building near the Ponsonby Rd end of K Rd would go ahead after an agreement was reached between the developers and the council. Independent planning commissioners had previously rejected the plans. 'The CRL is going to be transformative,' Holloway says. 'It's the point at which Pinocchio becomes a real boy and Auckland becomes a real city.' Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
