Business Central September 2021

8 | DEVELOPMENT Tākina/Wellington Convention Centre - LT McGuinness T T Green Star design - page 10 COMMERCIAL FLOORS Auckland: 24C Allright Place Mt Wellington | 09 2766242 | auckland@hcf.co.nz Wellington: 27C Dragon Street Grenada North | 04 232 7003 | wellington@hcf.co.nz Christchurch: 26 Hillview Road Phillipstown | 03 365 4229 | christchurch@hcf.co.nz Hills Commercial Floors. Proud to have our customers walk all over us. www.hcf.co.nz Phone: 04 568 3171 Email: info@sevenelectrical.co.nz www.sevenelectrical.co.nz Seven Electrical will be the Industry Leader by delivering the highest standards of Integrity, Customer Service, Craftsmanship, and Value. Electrical, Data & Security E L E C T R I C A L Proud to be associated with L T McGuinness on the Wellington Convention Centre Project. We were the main electrical contractor for the project Wellington (04) 472 5858 | Christchurch (03) 344 6458 | Auckland ( 09) 307 5851 | Email: info@swpcommercial.co.nz | www.swpcommercial.co.nz C O M M E R C I A L Proudly associated with LT McGuinness & the Wellington Convention Centre project Tākina a big boost for region Wellington Mayor Andy Foster: “It will put us on an equal footing with Auckland and Christchurch....” T T from page 6 The largest plenary space is the pillarless 1600sqm meeting space on Level 2 able to hold up to banquet of up to 1400 people, and subdividable into up to six smaller spaces with various configurations. The City Council’s acting Chief Infrastructure Officer, Mike Mendonca, says undertaking such a large and challenging project during a pandemic has not been easy but demon- strates the excellent supply chain manage- ment, resilience and determination of the main contractor and subcontractors to get the job done. “Last year’s lockdown and its aftermath have put great pressure on the construction team – and ongoing international supply-chain delays are continuing to be an issue,” says Mike. “However, this project is a great credit to the strong relationships we have with our contrac- tors, subcontractors and suppliers. This is one of the capital city’s biggest construction jobs in the last decade and we are proud it’s taking shape really well.” Securing Wellington’s Future as Leading Business Destination Tākina will secure Wellington’s future as a leading business events and conference des- tination in Australasia, says Wellington Mayor Andy Foster. “Tākina will enable the city to not only retain its current share of conferences but also put in bids for larger international conferences that would simply have been too big for existing venues. “It will put us on an equal footing with Auckland and Christchurch which both have conference venues under construction, and the Australian market where all major cities have purpose-built convention facilities.” The pre-pandemic business case for the project outlined that the convention centre would host more than 100 new events annu- ally, delivering nearly 149,000 new delegate days to Wellington representing 16% growth from the current position. The exhibition space is expected to attract over 272,000 annual visitors, generating an additional $3.8 million in direct visitor spend in Wellington. The business case also revealed the conven- tion and exhibition spaces would contribute a $90.6 million annual spend, adding $44.8m to Wellington’s GDP while creating an estimated 554 new jobs. It also showed the three-year construction phase would generate an additional $171m “Tākina will enable the city to not only retain its current share of conferences but also put in bids for larger international conferences...” spend, contribute $76m GDP to Wellington’s economy, and create 864 jobs. Mayor Foster says pre-pandemic the business events market was worth around $240 million to the city and is among the most lucrative within Wellington’s tourism portfolio. “Business event visitors each spend on av- erage $326 a day compared to non-business event visitors who spend $195 each a day. “That spending gets spread across the city on things such as accommodation, transport, eateries and bars, and in the retail sector.”