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The Spinoff
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Windbag: Why Wellington's vibe shift is coming in 2026
Things are about to change in the capital, and it has nothing to do with the mayoral race. Windbag is The Spinoff's Wellington issues column, written by Wellington editor Joel MacManus. Subscribe to the Windbag newsletter to receive columns early. Wellington spends an inordinate amount of time naval-gazing about vibes or the perceived lack thereof. Vibes are ill-defined, intangible, immeasurable but ever-present, and any effort to change them is more art than science. If there is one moment that triggered the capital's vibecession, it would be the 2013 Seddon earthquake. Then, the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, Covid-19, public sector layoffs and a general economic downturn. It's been a long, slow rolling maul of decline. When understanding the city's vibes, we shouldn't overthink it. Media and politicians can get too in-the-weeds, thinking too much about budgets and rates and consultations, but those things aren't what shape vibes. Vibes are just another way of describing word-of-mouth. When people have conversations about their city, either with their fellow residents or with tourists, what do they talk about? At a basic level, cities are experiential. They're a dense collection of stuff to do, places to go, things to see, and people to meet. Cities have good vibes when people are talking about this great new place they tried that you simply must check out (restaurants, gigs, new developments, tourist attractions, activities). They develop bad vibes when there is a dearth of exciting new stuff, and when the existing stuff is declining. That's what's happened in Wellington for the past decade. Many major buildings and activity centres have closed, and there have been few new developments to counterweight the loss. However, that's about to change. I'm predicting a significant vibe shift as early as next year (and no, it'll have nothing to do with the new mayor). Several major projects are due to be completed in 2026 (provided construction schedules don't change) that will give locals and visitors something to be excited about. Te Matapihi Central Library: due to open March 2026 Wellington's Central Library closed in March 2019 after an engineers' report raised concerns about earthquake safety. The council was not legally obliged to close the building, but then mayor Justin Lester said he felt 'morally obliged'. Following the closure, there was an extended fight over whether it was better to demolish the building and rebuild something new or to try to repair and upgrade the existing building. In the midst of the debate, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga listed it as a category 1 heritage building despite it being less than 30 years old. 'Save our library' successfully pushed for the council to retrofit the building with base isolators and other earthquake safety features for $189 million. Whether it was the right choice or not, there's no point relitigating the decisions. The money is spent, and the rebuild is nearly complete. When the library reopens in March next year, it'll be a moment of celebration. Losing the 'living room of the city' was a huge vibe killer, and getting a new, better version back will give people something worth talking about. Te Whare Whakarauika Wellington Town Hall: due to open in July 2026 Another long and complex collision of earthquake damage and heritage protections, the Town Hall closed in 2013 after the Seddon earthquake. Repairs were initially budgeted at $30 million but ballooned out as high as $330m due to a messy mixture of scope creep and sunk-cost fallacy. (It should be noted that part of the increased cost was to create custom spaces for the new National Music Centre.) However, like the library, what's done is done. The money has already been spent. The good news is that progress is ahead of schedule. The latest council update moved the expected opening forward by eight months to July 2026. The Town Hall is an important and impressive public building that can be a point of civic pride. Importantly, it will add another much-needed performance venue to the city, meaning Wellington can host events, providing more flow-on commerce for nearby businesses. Te Ngākau Civic Precinct: due to open in March 2026 The entire Civic Square plaza is currently closed for a makeover. The timing is ideal; the whole place is a dead zone due to the Central Library and Town Hall construction, and City Gallery has temporarily moved to the National Library. Civic Square will open in March 2026 alongside the library, with new paving and landscaping. It's a vital public space for gathering, hanging out or eating lunch, so having a new and refreshed area to experience will be something for people to talk about. Te Ara Tupua: due to open in April 2026 After flooding in 2013 and 2015, it became clear that Wellington needed a seawall to protect the railway line and highway between the city and the Hutt. The great bonus when you build a seawall is that you can put a shared cycling and walking path on top and add a great public amenity for minimal additional cost. However, NZTA Waka Kotahi got cheeky with the numbers and funded the entire $348.7 million project through its cycling budget, even though it was primarily intended to protect the road and rail. This left little money for other cycling projects nationwide. Despite the dodgy funding, the shared walking and cycling path will be truly remarkable. Named Te Ara Tupua and designed with mana whenua, the project will include five artificial gravel beaches providing access to the water for fishing and diving, and six new gathering spaces with planting, seating and bike stands. A rail overbridge is designed to honour Te Wharepouri, a significant rangatira who lived in the area. The western coast of Wellington Harbour offers stunning views, but until now, they've only been accessible out of the window of a moving vehicle. Te Ara Tupua opens that area to people. For commuters, especially on e-bikes, the safe and scenic route will be a vast improvement over the current option, a terrifying ride along the shoulder of a busy highway. For recreational bikers, it's even more exciting. Te Ara Tupua will link up the Great Harbour Way, meaning there will be a protected, paved, coastal cycleway from Miramar to Days Bay (and eventually from Pencarrow to Owhiro Bay, a distance of 70km). It will become a must-do activity and tourist attraction. East by West ferries are already planning for a surge in traffic from people crossing to Days Bay with their bikes and riding back to the city (or vice versa).
RNZ News
19-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Wellington scheme using office blocks for affordable housing expanded
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Housing developers and Wellington City Council say the Te Kāinga affordable housing scheme is well on the way to creating 1500 new apartments in Wellington's central city by 2033. Property developer Ian Cassels said the scheme was a crucial springboard to promote growth in the capital. Originally proposed in 2018 by then mayor, Justin Lester, Te Kāinga involved developers converting unused office buildings into residential apartments with the council then taking on a long term lease and acting as property manager. The scheme was designed to be "cost neutral" to ratepayers - with building owners paying to maintain the buildings - while a property management fee covered the council's cost of managing tenants. The success of the early stages of the initiative had recently seen the council expand the initial goal of 1000 new apartments to 1500 by 2033. Ian Cassels' development firm, The Wellington Company owned two of the three buildings currently operating within the scheme. "Unless we get people living in the city, the city has no other way to grow again easily. "If we put 30,000 people in Wellington in the next ten years - which is more than likely - you would obviate the need for light rail, a four billion dollar device to get you from here to the suburbs. Why not be just walking around the city? "It's the intensity [of housing] that matters to the country - which we're not getting - and Wellington is the place for it," Cassels told RNZ's Nine to Noon . Cassels said he was confident the city's unused office space could accommodate up to 30,000 additional residents "easily". "The city swells to a 108,000 people on a workday. A lot of them occupy high rise buildings. A lot of [those] are now are not occupied. There's going to be space." Cassels said buildings were selected for their central locations, good light and air and seismic integrity. He said his company would require a New Building Standard (NBS) of above 67 percent to purchase a building for conversion while all of the council's leases within the scheme required at least an 80 percent earthquake strength rating. Wellington City Council (WCC) manager of housing development Paul McCorry said the scheme was designed to help bolster the workforces of the city's burgeoning creative and start-up businesses. "It is aimed at people who are living and working in the city. Our council is resolved to have a priority criteria for people who are working in job creation industries in the city so people who are working in the arts, people who are working in start-ups, people who are working in hospitality," he said. McCorry said long term tenancy agreements would also offer a security not common in central city housing. "We might have a long term commitment with a landlord for up to 20 years and we really want somebody who moves into one of our buildings to be able to have that flexibility that - if they want to live there for 20 years too - they can. "It's about security of tenure for people. Giving them a good strong foundation so they can get on with the rest of their life and have a strong home behind them," he said. McCorry said a property management fee paid by the building owners meant the scheme could operate with no impact to rate payers. "We're committing to a long term lease which allows [building owners] to pass on a rent that is below market and we can actually pass that rent on to our tenants. "We have a small tenancy management team and [building owners] provide a management fee as well, which covers the cost of those employees which are looking after our tenants, and makes sure that the whole thing is cost neutral," McCorry said. The scheme could act as "proof of concept" - for other councils looking to boost urban living - at home and abroad, he said. "We've been contacted by other councils interested in the program because they see some of the successes we've been having. "Melbourne, as an example, had some research recently where they identified 86 buildings within their CBD that were suitable for conversion."
