Buzz building ahead of The Crossing's grand opening

Buzz building ahead of The Crossing's grand opening

Christchurch, September 8, 2017

Excitement is building ahead of the grand opening of Christchurch’s most prestigious CBD retail development, The Crossing, which is expected to attract thousands of shoppers this weekend.

The Colliers International-managed shopping centre has been opening in stages, starting with a 700-space car park and a high-end supermarket, the FreshChoice City Market, which opened a fortnight ago.

The third stage, launching tomorrow, includes top fashion brands H&M, Country Road, Trenery, Witchery, Seed and Rodd and Gunn, among other retailers.

Evan Harris, National Retail Director for Colliers International’s award-winning Real Estate Management team, says excitement is already building ahead of the big opening.

“There’s plenty of buzz around H&M, which will be the global fashion brand’s first New Zealand store outside of Auckland, but there’s also huge enthusiasm about all the other great retailers opening up shop,” he says.

“Christchurch will now have an exceptional line-up of international fashion retailers, some of which are coming to the city for the first time – and all of which are coming to The Crossing.”

Harris says Colliers International has been working hard with the owners for months to prepare for the grand opening and ongoing management of the centre.

“We want the opening to be a great experience for the thousands of shoppers who will stream through The Crossing’s doors from Saturday morning,” he says.

“It’s going to be a huge weekend for Christchurch, and the Colliers International team.”

Harris says big queues are expected outside H&M, whose staff have arranged for porridge to be delivered to hungry shoppers while they wait for the doors to open.

“We’ve arranged for council to help manage traffic, and we’ve put on extra security staff to ensure everyone can enjoy themselves on the day,” Harris says.

The Crossing is the largest privately owned development in Christchurch’s central city, and also the largest, covering some 44,000sq m.

It offers about 55 retail tenancies, a number of which enjoy prime frontage to the main retail intersection of Cashel Mall and Colombo Street.

The Crossing also boasts a first-floor bridge that links to the Ballantynes department store over Colombo Street.

The shopping centre has been developed by Carter Group, a locally owned property company established in 1946.

It is situated in the heart of Christchurch’s Retail Precinct, created following the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, which saw most of the buildings within the city block damaged beyond repair.

This presented an opportunity to amalgamate various landholdings and create an intergraded retail, office and carparking development.

The Crossing creates the impression of numerous, individual buildings that combine to offer a variety of spaces and experiences to the streetscapes, as well as exiting laneways.

The approach facilitated the restoration and retention of a 1901 heritage building facade on Cashel Mall and the iconic 1933 former Beath’s department store building – later Arthur Barnett’s – on the Colombo Street corner.

Colliers International’s Real Estate Management division is New Zealand’s largest independent property management and consultancy team.

It was awarded Retail Team of the Year at the 2017 RICS New Zealand Awards.

ENDS

© Scoop Media