BNZ quits Harbour Quays lease citing 'considerable' repair time

Monday 26th March 2018

Bank of New Zealand has exited its lease on the CentrePort Harbour Quays building, saying the quake-damaged premises will take considerable time to repair.

The building, which is owned by CentrePort, was significantly damaged in the November 2016 earthquake and BNZ's 1,500 staff have not returned since then. CentrePort also owns the nearby Statistics House which is being demolished. It hasn't yet decided whether the Harbour Quays office building, which is three times the size of Stats House, is economic to repair.

BNZ, which has been in the building since it opened in 2009, said it worked closely with CentrePort to understand the remediation process and "we now know that it will take considerable time to reinstate the building."

“By the end of 2018, our Wellington-based staff will be based in three locations – Ricoh House, Spark Central and 96 The Terrace," BNZ director Richard Griffiths said. "We envisage those buildings being our home for the foreseeable future."

CentrePort's general manager for property Nick Wareham said the company was grateful for the partnership with BNZ, which signed on to the building when it was in the planning stages in 2006.

"While we are sad at this decision, we thank BNZ for its patience these past 16 months and acknowledge the impact the earthquake-damaged building has had on BNZ’s people and business," Wareham said.

(BusinessDesk)

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