Wellington’s Mayor and City Councillors were briefed today on the progress of Te Whare Whakarauika Wellington Town Hall and the plan for delivering front-of-house facilities.

Progress on the Town Hall is now well ahead of schedule, with construction completion due in July 2026. This is eight months earlier than expected when the Council increased funding in October 2023 and the project was re-planned. The project will also return between $15m-17.5m to the Council out of the budget approved in October 2023, with the final figure dependent on the closing out of remaining risks.

The Council was also briefed today on progress towards completion of front-of-house facilities which will support the operation of the Town Hall venue. As identified in the October 2023 re-plan, front-of-house facilities will be constructed on part of the empty Municipal Office Building (MOB) site (the building is currently being demolished).

The preliminary plan for front-of-house facilities confirms the cost to be within the approved budget of $28m from the October 2023 re-plan. It will be completed in time for the opening of the Town Hall. The front-of-house facilities, designed by Warren and Mahoney, will feature a relatively lightweight timber frame and in a major cost-saving move, will use the existing MOB foundations.

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Discussions continue with Precinct Properties to build and fund a larger building sitting across the adjoining MOB and Civic Administration Building (CAB) sites, as advised in 2024. The intent is for this building to include a mixture of hospitality, retail activation and office space.

The benefits of this approach to front-of-house are that it provides certainty for the Town Hall opening, gives the Council full discretion over the design and fit out of front-of-house facilities, and gives Precinct the greatest flexibility with the larger development.

This arrangement, along with other key commercial details, will be reflected in a heads-of-terms with Precinct Properties for the CAB/MOB sites for Council approval on 12 June.

Rapid progress is being made on the rest of Te Ngākau, which will reopen in March 2026 with the following:

• Strengthened Te Matapihi Central Library complete and reopened, delivered on time and on budget. Practical completion of the main building is on-track for August 2025.

• Strengthened City Gallery complete and reopened.

• Basement strengthening complete with new services installed for surrounding buildings.

• Plaza redeveloped, landscaped and reopened.

• CAB and MOB demolition complete and site cleared.

The City Council head office will begin moving to 68 Jervois Quay by the end of 2025, taking the Council back to the Te Ngākau neighbourhood to play a key role in reactivating the area.

The Te Ngākau Precinct Development Plan is due to be finalised in July 2025. This will provide the blueprint and options for completing the precinct in future years, as the Council’s funding and priorities permit.

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