Anyone who has been on a western line train between Newmarket and Grafton recently will undoubtedly have seen all of the work going on to clear the old Lion Brewery site that will eventually become the Newmarket campus for the Auckland University. One thing that has struck me is that now the site is mostly clear just how massive it really is (it’s just over 5ha) . Here are some photos taken from the train hopefully showing the massive size of the site (not all are from the same day).
And here is an idea of what is currently planned for the site. I understand the Uni are in the process of working out just what they will do with the site long term so these plans are probably temporary. Also they appear to be re-purposing the existing buildings although it does need to be noted that temporary buildings seem to have a knack for staying around for a long long time.
Lastly it will be interesting to see what happens with some of the nearby land. You would have to imagine that some of the property owners will be seriously starting to think about developing their land for apartments or other purposes to that will support the campus. The unitary plan zones all of the old commercial land mixed use so allows for a lot of opportunity.
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Wont they face the same restrictions as the Newmarket Metropolitan Zone next door which got down scaled to a maximum of eight storeys (rather than 18)?
This is mixed use zoning which from what I can tell is a blanket 4 storey limit.
But it is in the Newmarket 2 precinct which basically allows the uni to build their own framework plan which is then approved/rejected.
Some Mixed Use areas have overlays that allow 5 and 6 stories, Newmarket is one of those areas, including the brewery site. Though yes Tertiary Zoning is much more permissive.
Just found the overlay on the site. This section is Mixed Use with 8 stories, but can be exempted under a framework plan.
I think it’s a shame that the end closest to Grafton stations seems to be earmarked for carparking. I would have though it would make sense to use that end for green space and setting up some sort of flow paths from the station to the buildings. Carparking would be better suited, I think, for the other side (near Kingdon and Sulfur Street, which could be reconfigured as one-way streets into and out of the carpark).
I think its just part of the temporary solution (havent seen any advanced plans) – I presume they are just keeping the carparking that is already there to cut-down on the intial redevelopment costs.
Had this same exact argument with myself haha
They thing that stands out in those dodgy mock-ups are the giant swathes of carparking. Notably near the Grafton station.
Would also be great to see a 5m strip left adjacent to the road to provide for a walking and cycling. Current footpath much too narrow for potential student foot traffic.
Also a pedestrian connection through the site would be great, about where George St meets Carlton Gore. This block is much too long, and a pedestrian connection would be great for those living in future student accommodation on site.
Yes, it’s good to see the university, once again, leading the charge to ensure that there are sufficient car parks for senior staff and commercial VIPs who can’t be expected to waste their precious time walking/cycling/catching the, evidently infrequent, public transport that passes the site. Heaven forfend that they should lower their dignity. Oddly enough, my great grandfather, one of the university’s first professors, cycled from his house just up Mountain Road to the university in lower Symonds Street pretty much daily. Didn’t diminish his dignity.
Its strange actually, a lot of the engineering lecturers get to uni without a car (this will be an engineering campus), one of them even unicycles to uni.
Funny you’d say that, Peter’s nearly run me over a couple of times zooming from the middle of Symonds St onto the footpath!
Several faculty at the School of Environment (geography & geology) also use PT, walk or cycle (or a combination thereof) to the city campus, the most prominent of which is Prof. Robin Kearns who has a great interest in walkability and green space/nature in cities.
There will probably be some apartment conversions, but I don’t know how much opportunity the UP will allow for new buildings. The whole area is part of the Newmarket Business Special Character Zone, which protects all of the special and uniquely historic character of all that mid-20th century semi-industrial crap (seriously, go read the character statement: http://unitaryplan.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Images/Printable%20PDFs%20-%20September/Part%205%20-%20Appendices/Appendix%2010.pdf).
Special Character statements don’t protect all the buildings, I understand they are something that needs to be taken into account, notably when designing new buildings. And apply most strongly to character defining and character supporting buildings, and restrict demolition of those. But agree seems strange if applies on all of the industrial back streets and the brewery site.
The have a 30 year plan to redevelop this site, at present it is merely to be basically repurposing what is already there. You’ll note that all that parking is pre-existing so they’re basically leaving that as it is. Don’t pass judgement on a temporary use of land. Pass judgment if it turns out that a swathe of at grade parking is what the university sees as a good use of expensive innercity land in the long term.
I’m fairly certain that the final product will look nothing like the renders provided. The car parking which is shown is there already and since the entire site isn’t being developed at once it makes sense to leave it in place until they know what they are doing with that piece of land.
Is there any ability to get a walkway from mid-site to carlton gore road for quicker access to the Domain?
Plenty of gaps between the buildings but building owners may not be happy with handing over space, plus it would have to go over the railway line. Not sure which is more of a road block.
Great idea. Even better a cycleway and a walkway…
Won’t be easy through the service lanes between the buildings on CGR.. which by the way are terribly designed to the extent there’s no back service lane accessible by a rubbish truck so once a week all the bins get lined up on the footpath at the front, more or less blocking it.
As a resident of Newmarket who absolutely loves the area, I’m really hoping the university doesn’t waste all the potential of this area.
A university campus is fine, but the site is enormous and could really improve the character of Newmarket with more retail, offices, apartments, and paved open space.
One of the challenges is to provide the right mix of housing – Newmarket is the dead centre of Grammar Zone, so any housing that appears will be snapped up immediately, and people here will pay VERY good money for it. Students will barely get a chance. Being in Newmarket along the busiest public transport corridor, there will be thousands wanting to move in on top of families desperate to enrol for AGS/EGGS.
Well the local opposition to higher density, and this includes your esteemed councillor’s opposition (who no one challenged), has further hindered dwelling availability for Newmarket. Be careful of what you wish for. Sorry. I’m not feeling any sympathy at all.
Cr Brewer doesn’t control Newmarket anymore. It falls under Waitematā, not Ōrakei, and Epsom is in Albert-Eden
Right. However the point remains that Newmarket got downgraded severely.
Mostly was reflection of viewshafts criss-crossing the area, including important ones like Rangitoto and Mt Eden, so wasn’t downgraded as much as suggested. But height limited should be varied so it is up to the viewshaft, and suspect developers will try this anyway.
I work in one of the buildings directly to the north – actually, there’s very little of the existing buildings left for re-purposing. Maybe 10% seem to be around to stay for now?
Where did the brewery relocate to?
Ormiston Road in East Tamaki. https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?q=-36.964638,174.895306&num=1&t=h&z=16
East Tamaki: http://goo.gl/maps/pbPtH
Oh good. That’s a far more appropriate area. I knew it was somewhere in south auckland, just wasn’t sure where