 | |
| Location | Invercargill, New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 46°24′43″S168°20′53″E / 46.412°S 168.348°E |
| Opening date | 14 July 2022 |
| Architect | Buchan Group |
| Parking | 675 |
| Website | invercargillcentral |
Invercargill Central is a shopping centre located in the central business district of Invercargill, New Zealand. Stage one of the project opened on 14 July 2022. [1]
A survey conducted in April 2015 found the occupancy rate of Invercargill's central business district to be at its lowest point since 2003, and several buildings were assessed to be earthquake-prone. [2] [3] In March 2017, the Invercargill City Council and HWR Group formed HWCP Management Limited with the purpose of redeveloping the CBD. [4] Later that year, they purchased 90% of properties on the CBD block bordered by Esk, Dee, Don, and Kelvin Streets, [5] including the former The Southland Times building. The newspaper's building vendor was the Invercargill Licensing Trust, which had owned it since 2015 and planned to build a hotel there. [6] HWCP unveiled their plan for the redevelopment of the block in June 2018, with designs from The Buchan Group. [7] The development was confirmed in August 2019, with funding secured and Farmers set to be the anchor tenant. [8]
Demolition started in January 2020 [9] and was completed in September, with Hannahs being the final building removed. 43 buildings in total were demolished. [10] However, three heritage façades were retained, including the façade of the former Southland Times building. Current and former Southland Times staff were invited to sign the façade before it was plastered over. [11] Several archeological artefacts were unearthed, including the foundation of the city's first brick building. [12] During the demolition, local artists were invited to design artworks to decorate the safety barriers of the demolition site. [13]
Construction began in October 2020. [14] In March 2021, an intoxicated 61 year old man was arrested and charged after he climbed one of the cranes at the site. [15] [16] [17] A time capsule was embedded in a wall of the building, to be opened in 2072, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the mall. [18]
Stage one opened on 14 July 2022, with Farmers, Glassons, Amazon, Michael Hill, Pascoes Jewellery, Merchant 1948, Pagani, 2degrees, Mobile King, Mister Minit, and 300 carparks. The Coffee Club, Just Cuts, EB Games, and Cotton On opened in the following weeks, [19] with Flawless Face and Beauty expected in late October. [20] The stage one opening was originally set for November 2021, but was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [21] [22] Invercargill Central reportedly recorded over 13,000 weekly visitors during stage one. [23]
Stage two is set for November, and will include Bánh Mì, [24] Max and Barkers, Hallensteins, Lovisa, Cosmetic Clinic, Starbucks, Sal's Pizza, ReBurger, Wing Wing Korean Street Food, [20] Platypus Shoes, [19] and an additional 350 parking spaces. [25] Stage three is set for February 2023, [22] and will include a bowling alley, Timezone, and the linking of Reading Cinemas to the mall. [26]
The anchor store of Invercargill Central is Farmers, relocated from their former location of 150 Dee Street. [27] Other fashion outlets include Merchant 1948, Pagani, Hallensteins, Glassons, Amazon, Pascoes, Michael Hill Jeweller, Lovisa Jewellery, a Cotton On megastore, and a combined Max and Barkers store. Eateries are split between two areas, the Esk St Eats dining precinct and the Tay St food court, [28] and include Sal's Pizza, Majestic, The Coffee Club, Japanese Noodles and Sushi, ReBurger, Starbucks, Wing Wing Korean Street Food, Temptation Desserts, AR Indian, Kebabs, and Bánh Mì Vietnamese Street Food. Health and beauty stores include Just Cuts, Modern Mens Barber, Flawless Face and Beauty, Cosmetic Clinic, and Unichem Pharmacy. Other stores are 2degrees, Tech Pro, Mobile King, and Mister Minit. [29] Additionally, Invercargill Central purchased the Reading Cinemas building on Dee Street, which will be refurbished to have an entrance from the mall. [30] Ballantynes department store will also be opening a branch at the mall as a smaller location called Ballantynes Select. [31]
Invercargill Central includes a multistorey car park, which will contain 675 parking spaces when completed. [32] As of the opening of stage one, 300 spaces are available. Parking is free for up to 60 minutes. [25] Bicycle parking and electric vehicle charging stations will be included in stage two. [33]
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains to the east of the Ōreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.
Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He was the Mayor of Invercargill from 1998 to 2022, and previously Mayor of Waitemata City.
Makarewa is a small community north of Invercargill.
Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982.
H & J Smith Holdings Ltd, branded as H & J Smith was a company which operated in the lower South Island of New Zealand. The company was founded in 1900 and closed in 2023. It operates a network of franchises. The company previously operated department stores around the South Island with the flagship store in Invercargill.
The D.I.C. was a New Zealand department store chain, founded in Dunedin by Bendix Hallenstein in 1884.
Patric Denis O'Brien, commonly known as Paddy O'Brien, is a New Zealand international rugby union referee, and former head of the International Rugby Board's Referee Board.
The Southland Times is the regional daily paper for Southland, including Invercargill, and neighbouring parts of Otago, in New Zealand. It is now owned by media business Stuff Ltd, formerly the New Zealand division of Fairfax Media.
Marcus Lush is a politician and television and radio presenter in New Zealand.
The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank Southland Sharks.
The Mayor of Invercargill is the head of the municipal government of Invercargill, New Zealand, and leads the Invercargill City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system every three years. The current mayor is Nobby Clark. Invercargill also has a deputy mayor that is chosen from the council. There have been 44 mayors so far.
Andrew Wheeler is a New Zealand basketball player for the Southland Sharks of the National Basketball League (NBL).
Paul Andrew Reid is a New Zealand actor, musician and property developer. He played Marshall Heywood on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street from 2001 to 2004, and was also a member of the band Rubicon. He now owns a commercial property investment company in Auckland and is the drummer for Auckland-based rock band Capital Theatre.
J Ballantyne and Company Ltd, trading as Ballantynes is a Christchurch, New Zealand-based department store operator. Established in 1854, it is New Zealand's oldest department store. Ballantynes is also a member of the Intercontinental Group of Department Stores. Alongside their flagship store in Christchurch Central City, stores also operate in Timaru and Invercargill.
Penelope Elsie Simmonds is a New Zealand politician, Member of Parliament and a Minister in the House of Representatives for the National Party. She previously served as the chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology. Following the 2023 New Zealand general election, Simmonds assumed the disability issues, environmental, tertiary education and skills, and associate social development and employment portfolios in the Sixth National Government.
Kew is a suburb in the New Zealand city of Invercargill.
The 2022 Invercargill mayoral election took place on 8 October 2022 as part of the New Zealand local elections. Incumbent mayor Tim Shadbolt unsuccessfully sought a tenth term against nine other candidates, losing to his deputy Nobby Clark.
H. W. Richardson Group is a New Zealand company that provides fuel distribution and retailing through its Allied Petroleum brand in New Zealand and its Petrogas brand in Victoria, Australia. It also owns companies in the concrete, transport, contracting, aggregate quarrying, and waste disposal sectors, operating predominantly in the South Island.
William Stuart "Nobby" Clark is a New Zealand politician, serving as the Mayor of Invercargill since 2022. He has also served on the Invercargill City Council since 2019 and as deputy mayor since 2020.
