Wynyard Quarter residents decry ‘indefensible’ 23-storey waterfront unit plans

The 90-unit block where the residents live is only 12 levels high and sits between Beaumont St and Madden St.

The existing apartment block is across the road from 188 Beaumont St, where the 23-level tower is planned.

Plans by Precinct Properties and Orams Marine for the waterfront site at 188 Beaumont St, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland. Image / www.fasttrack.govt.nz

The project, yet to win approval, is proposed by NZX-listed Precinct Properties and Orams Marine.

Westhaven Residential Limited Partnership has applied for fast-tracking.

Mark McGuinness and Megan Paine inside 30 Madden. Photo / Dean Purcell

The application for 188 Beaumont St seeks consent for “a marker building containing approximately 215 residential apartments with in-built flexibility for use as serviced apartments, ground-floor retail activities and associated car parking”.

The outdoor terrace at 30 Madden. Photo / Dean Purcell

Three buildings proposed include:

Tower Building: 23 storeys, 80m, 125 units;Marina Building: eight storeys, 31m, 18 three-bedroom units;Beaumont Building: 10 storeys, 37m, 72 units with the option of serviced apartments for visitor accommodation.

All up, 42,098sq m is planned for 45 three-bedroom units, 126 two-bedroom units, 44 one-bedrooms and carparking in the podium levels.

Wide views from 30 Madden. Photo / Dean Purcell

The application was lodged on September 4.

On December 19, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop referred the project for fast-tracking.

Instrastructure Minister Chris Bishop referred the project for fast-tracking. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The developers seek:

550sq m of ground-level shops;Vehicle access via Beaumont St only;273 car parks, primarily for residents;152 bike spaces;Internal connectivity with the adjacent Orams Marine facility.

Height is emphasised as a plus in the application.

“Sited at the interface between the city grid and the Te Ara Tukutuku axis, the proposal acts as an orienting device and a marker in the cityscape,” the design proposal says.

Silo Park is shown at the far right. In the centre is an image of apartment and carparking plans for 188 Beaumont St, Wynard Quarter, Auckland. Image / www.fasttrack.govt.nz

The 23-level tower sought to deliver a new type of identity reflective of its Wynyard Quarter location, plans said. The plans are by Warren & Mahoney.

Having three buildings enabled stratification of offerings, because each of the blocks was envisaged to have a differentiated identity.

Megan Paine (left) and Mark McGuinness of Willis Bond at 30 Madden. Photo / Dean Purcell

Precinct CEO Scott Pritchard was reluctant to discuss plans when he met the Herald at a Mt Eden site the company plans to develop.

Consent has been gained for that scheme, a much lower-rise five-level project.

Apartments up to 80m tall are planned for 188 Beaumont St, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland. Precinct Properties and Orams Marine plan this scheme. Image / www.fasttrack.govt.nz

Orams planned a much smaller scheme a few years ago.

This is not the first time Wynyard Quarter residents have battled Orams over height and bulk, over what is now the three-shed service sheds on the waterfront.

Orams Marine’s Beaumont St base with the new sheds (centre) which are now finished.

In 2022, then Wynyard Quarter Residents Association Inc president Marc Potter said his group had filed the legal action against Auckland Council and Orams Group, seeking a judicial review over consent for the sheds in the $140 million scheme.

But it lost, and the sheds were built.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.

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