Media release
5 March 2013

New Lynn Merchant Quarter finished and ready for fun

An open day to celebrate the completion of New Lynn’s new Merchant Quarter precinct is being held on Saturday (March 9) by Auckland Council and Auckland Transport.

The new Merchant Quarter will be the heart of metropolitan New Lynn, a vibrant centre where people can work, do business, shop and be entertained.

It features a medical centre, public carpark and upgraded roads and, from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, will be alive to the sound of families enjoying bouncy castles, balloons, face painting, sausage sizzles, stalls and a new bike giveaway.

“We know the redevelopment work in New Lynn has been challenging for business owners, shoppers and workers. Now it’s time to thank people for their patience and celebrate what can only be described as a fantastic end result,” says Mayor Len Brown.

“I encourage everyone to come to New Lynn on Saturday and have some fun, while celebrating a major success on our road to becoming the world’s most liveable city. The vision in the Auckland Plan identifies New Lynn as a priority growth area and there’s no denying New Lynn is a huge success.”

The new medical centre, developed by Infratil Infrastructure Property Limited for Totara Health Services, is a purpose-built one-stop health shop and the stage is set for a stunning new 10-storey apartment tower on top of the car park building.

The ground floor retail, with up to 16 new shops across both buildings is currently being marketed for lease with strong interest and will provide food and beverage, convenience retail and services opportunities.

The free activities will run in the new McCrae Way, Auckland’s newest shared space street and the second to be built in New Lynn.

Auckland Transport chief executive David Warburton says the new developments build on a number of transformational transport projects delivered in central New Lynn since September 2012 such as the award-winning transport interchange, the Clark St bypass and the Totara Ave shared space.

“At ground level, McCrae Way is no longer a tired and under-used back street but a safe and attractive shared space running through the new heart of New Lynn, providing access to the medical and retail premises and the new public parking building,” he says.

“The adjoining main street upgrade of Great North Rd and Delta Ave also gives New Lynn residents, visitors and workers a more pleasant and pedestrian-friendly ‘high street’ to enjoy.”

Architecture and design company Jasmax designed the two buildings fronting Totara Ave and McCrae Way with the company taking inspiration from local sources.

The triangular precast concrete panels on the medical centre are inspired by the west coast bush and the colours of the panel edges have been matched to Crown Lynn tea saucers. The fins on the carpark building help ventilation and are inspired by the fins on a 1969 Holden Monaro. The weather steel cladding reflects the iron oxide found on west coast beaches.

A team of 160 Hawkins Construction workers built the two new buildings over a year, including the internal fit-out.

“With an integrated, award-winning transport hub, exciting town centre development and new affordable housing options, New Lynn is showing the rest of Auckland what a vibrant, compact city can look like,” says Mayor Brown.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

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