The City Rail Link (CRL) is more than just improving public transport access.
It will stimulate private investment and facilitate a substantial amount of development. This will help achieve the broader transformational objectives of the Auckland Council and support government housing initiatives.
When CRL construction finishes, great places emerge:
Next steps for the areas around the Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhau Stations
Urban regeneration midtown
Eke Panuku Development Auckland is partnering with international property developer Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) who, with experienced local development and project management company RCP, will deliver the urban regeneration of the site above City Rail Link’s midtown Station at the corner of Mayoral Drive and Wellesley Street.
The CRL benefits are wide.
It will:
Reduce travel times
Increase passenger capacity and patronage
Improve access to the city centre
Increase employment in the city centre
Increase in land values around stations
Create residential and employment opportunities close to, or above CRL stations
Secure opportunities to increase the Auckland housing supply (estimated to be around 1400 new dwellings)
Accommodate up to 4800 new jobs at station locations
Return significant value for the project.
This regeneration potential will:
Help meet Auckland’s housing demand
Provide employment opportunities within and beyond the project footprint
Preliminary investigation has identified significant development potential of about 200,000sqm developed gross floor area
Likely combined potential commercial development of about 63,000sqm around the CRL stations
Residential development at Karangahape Road and Mt Eden of about 130,000sqm.
Consenting requirements
Planning for these opportunities responds to the CRL designation which requires remediation of land used for the project and its integration with the surrounding public realm.
The CRL designation conditions, Urban Design Framework, and Environmental Management Framework have:
Guided the mitigation of effects, station and streetscape planning and design work
Provided for integration of the above and underground station elements, and tunnel infrastructure into the surrounding precincts.
CRL Productivity Benefits:
The CRL will significantly increase access to the city centre, which is Auckland's most productive area.
Productivity, density and accessibility are positively related.
Increased accessibility leads to greater agglomeration (spatial concentration of economic activity) leading to higher output and employment growth.
Transport infrastructure is crucial in sustaining cities and supporting agglomeration. Increasing the density of people and jobs that are accessible to the economy of the city centre, the CRL will be a key driver of productivity growth.
Some of the wider economic benefits realisable for central government and Auckland Council through CRL are:
Auckland's annual GDP is projected to be more than $110 million per annum higher than it would have been without the CRL (within 10 years of the CRL opening)
Further significant economic and tax benefits from the creation of new jobs and people moving to more productive jobs
Adding over $4 billion to Auckland's GDP over the first 40 years of operation as a result of the productivity and agglomeration benefits from the improved accessibility of the city centre
Around $1.4 billion of additional tax revenue for government as a consequence of increased productivity.