Former Starbucks flag-ship premises comes up for lease

Media Release

27.2.2017

Former Starbucks flag-ship premises comes up for lease.

Caption: The high-profile premises formerly occupied by the ‘flagship’ New Zealand store of global coffee retailer Starbucks overlooking Auckland’s Aoeta Square in has come onto the market for lease.

The high-profile premises formerly occupied by the ‘flagship’ New Zealand store of global coffee retailer Starbucks has come onto the market for lease.

The ground-level space on the corner of Queen Street and Aotea Square in Central Auckland was occupied by Starbucks for 10 years before the company vacated the site late last year.

Overlooking Queen Street and directly adjacent to the entrance of the SkyWorld entertainment centre, the vacant site is being looked at by a number of branded food and beverage chains – including licensed bar operators.

The 232.62 square metre space is now being marketed for lease by sole agency Bayleys Auckland – with leasing specialists Sarah Boles and Nelson Patchett running the campaign.

Ms Boles said the property consisted of 183 square metres indoor and 48 square metres of exclusive outdoor seating.

“The SkyWorld complex is in the heart of Auckland’s entertainment hub – within 150 metres of The Civic, The Auckland Town Hall, The Aotea Centre, Q Theatre, the Auckland Art Gallery the Classic Comedy Club, and the planned new outdoor performance venue adjacent to the Aotea Centre,” she said.

SkyWorld is promoted as: “Auckland’s big little city entertainment hub” and last year recorded four million visitors. Within the seven-level hub are a range of complimentary entertainment options including an Event-branded cinema complex, a 10-pin bowling alley, a sensory maze, a TimeOut-branded arcade-style gaming centre, and a Lilliputt-branded mini-golf course.

The complex also has a food court with 10 individual outlets serving Turkish, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Italian, Chinese and New Zealand cuisines. Burger operators Carl’s Jr and BurgerFuel are immediately adjacent to the front of the entrance to SkyWorld.

Mr Patchett said: “The 291 Queen Street property is at the gateway to all these attractions – so therefore benefits from being the first visual point of contact for patrons entering the premises from Queen Street.”

Auckland City Council consent is currently being sought for the installation of a massive LED screen on the side of the building directly above the space being offered for lease. The screens replicate those in New York’s Times Square or London’s Leicester Square and will be a first for New Zealand.

Mr Patchett said: “The intention is to use the screens as advertising platforms for generic consumer brands, to promote the SkyWorld tenancies, and to screen major sporting events such as All Black matches, Superbowl, and NBA play-off games for example.”

He said the 291 Queen Street site available for lease consisted of a circular cathedral-like hub accessed from three points - Queen Street, Aotea Square and internally from within the SkyWorld Centre.

“The substantial foot traffic coming both into and past the SkyWorld property delivers the potential for vast co-branding food and beverage brands and products within the location through the usage of branded collateral such as table umbrellas and banners,” he said.

“It’s the type of location brewery labels are constantly seeking to support their brand presence – with the likes of Lion, DB and now up and coming Waikato hospitality operators Good George all vying for consumers’ eyes…. and wallets.

“The internal architecture of the property lends itself toward some visionary décor styling or space use. Like the use of LED’s on the exterior of the building, clever redesign of the internal space could witness another New Zealand first.”

Auckland City Council’s 20-year City Centre Masterplan spotlights the Aotea Square precinct on the side of SkyWorld as one of the pillars for rejuvenating the central business district and city-fringe – building on the expansion of the city rail link and the new Aotea underground station.

“We (the council) need to reinforce Aotea Quarter’s role as a cultural and civic hub, helped by creating a theatre district centred on established theatres. The quarter’s heritage values will also be enhanced, as it is home to some important landmarks,” says the council’s City Centre Masterplan.

“The City Rail Link is our opportunity to create neighbourhood precincts around the existing rail link stations and new ones at Aotea, Karangahape Road and Newton.

“The (Aotea) area’s growth will require more than a station close by. Development characteristics and opportunities include large commercial sites without height restrictions, performance venues attracting local, national and international visitors, and several redevelopment sites fringing Aotea Square, including and behind the Aotea Centre and the council’s Civic and Bledisloe buildings.”

Ms Boles said the council’s City Centre Masterplan underpinned the long-term sustainability of the 291 Queen Street premises. She added that the council’s intention to attract more visitors to the precinct was closely aligned to the venue’s most likely use as a high volume food and beverage or retail outlet.

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