Commercial Bay Shopping Centre facts for kids
The first shop, an H&M store, in the new Commercial Bay development in Auckland in 2018.
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| Location | Auckland CBD |
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| Coordinates | 36°50′39″S 174°45′58″E / 36.8442°S 174.7660°E |
| Opening date | 30 April 1975 28 June 2020 (reopened) |
| Closing date | 28 May 2016 |
| Management | Colliers International Real Estate Management |
| Owner | Precinct Properties New Zealand |
| No. of stores and services | 86 (original) 120+ (after rebuild) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 (original) 0 (after rebuild) |
| Total retail floor area | 12,417 m2 (133,660 sq ft) |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Parking | None |
Commercial Bay Shopping Centre is a cool shopping spot in downtown Auckland CBD, Auckland City, New Zealand. You can find it at 11–19 Customs Street West. It's located between Lower Albert Street and the Britomart Transport Centre.
This shopping centre used to be called the Downtown Shopping Centre. Before that, it was known as Westfield Downtown. It was a smaller mall with about 12,417 square metres of space for shops. In late 2012, a company called Precinct Properties New Zealand bought it.
The old building closed its doors on 28 May 2016, after being open for 41 years. By November 2016, it was completely taken down. A brand new, tall building with a new mall was built in its place. The future City Rail Link train tunnels even go right through the building's foundations!
The new development is called "Commercial Bay." This name comes from what the area was called way back in the 1900s. The very first shop in the new Commercial Bay was an H&M store, which opened in August 2018. After a few delays, the main shopping mall part of Commercial Bay was finished in June 2020.
Contents
History of the Mall
The Original Downtown Mall
The first mall opened its doors on 30 April 1975. It had around 80 stores spread across three floors. Some of the main shops included The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, and Postie Plus.
It was one of the few malls run by the Westfield Group that didn't have a supermarket. But it was the only proper shopping mall in the whole city centre! In its later years, the mall became famous for being covered almost entirely by huge outdoor billboards. These billboards often annoyed the city council.
Why the Old Mall Changed
In 2005, the centre made NZ$56.9 million in sales. About 5.8 million people visited it each year. Most visitors were people working in the city, tourists, and people living nearby. However, some thought it was Westfield's least successful mall in New Zealand.
It was in the middle of a very busy city area. With only three floors above ground, it was considered too small for its location. Many different plans for the site were discussed over the years. In 2009, the mall was valued at NZ$79.1 million.
In 2008, Westfield got permission to build a 41-storey office skyscraper on the site. This new building would also have a two-level shopping area. Some people were concerned because the permission didn't protect the route for a future train tunnel. This tunnel for the Britomart Transport Centre would need to pass under the building.
However, in October 2008, the train company ONTRACK announced good news. They had reached an agreement with Westfield. This agreement allowed the train tunnel route to be built carefully through the future foundations of the building.
The New Commercial Bay
The old Downtown Shopping Centre closed on 28 May 2016. It had been open for 41 years. By 23 November of that same year, the entire building was gone. It was replaced by a new 36-storey skyscraper.
This new building includes a modern shopping centre. It has a supermarket, cool bars, restaurants, and lots of food places on its lower levels. The Auckland Council and the owners, Precinct Properties, made a deal. This deal included building tunnels for the City Rail Link directly underneath the property.
