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Westfield Albany is a
shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...
in the Auckland suburb of Albany, New Zealand, opposite the Albany Lakes Civic Park. It is majority owned (51%) by
Scentre Group Scentre Group Limited is a shopping centre company with retail destinations operating under the Westfield brand in Australia and New Zealand. The corporation undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, proper ...
with the remainder owned by the Singapore Government's GIC. Until 2014 it was wholly owned by Scentre Group, which was formerly part of
Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio ...
. Once the last sections opened in April 2008, at 7 ha (70,000 m2) of indoor space (4.9 ha retail 9,000 m2and 2.1 ha 1,000 m2offices), and costing around NZ$210 million to construct. Westfield Albany provides over 2,000 carparks for around 150 specialty stores, as well as a large-format 2 floor 10,000 m2
Farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...
, a
Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inco ...
and a
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
. It also contains an
Event Cinemas Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, GU Film House, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle (BCC Cinemas), is the largest movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, with over 140 cinema complexes cu ...
multiplex cinema and a 560-seat food court which includes major fastfood franchises.Westfield Agreements Mark Milestone In Development of Albany Town Centre
(from the Westfield NZ website, 28 September 2006)


History and development

The centre was Westfield's first totally new mall since entering the New Zealand market in the mid-90s. When first mooted in 2003, it was conceived as a much smaller centre, with 20,000 m2 planned initially, and with an expansion of 15,000 m2 proposed for a decade later if population increase in the vicinity justified it. By 2007 when the mall opened, planning of an extension was already under way. At that time, some experts saw demand for about twice the size of the centre in retail and associated office space in the wider Albany area. However, Westfield itself had in the past put in submissions against a
District Plan A district plan is a statutory planning document of New Zealand's territorial authorities. Mainly covering land use/zoning questions, they have been required since the advent of the Resource Management Act 1991 The Resource Management Act (R ...
change in the area, contending that it allowed for "excessive retail provision in the Albany area" (in a northern 'mainstreet' area separate from the core where Westfield and a number of other retailers have their sites). The challenge was rejected by the
Environment Court The Environment Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Taiao o Aotearoa) is a specialist court for plans, resource consents and environmental issues. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Resource Management Act, meaning that it covers a ...
. The concept of the Albany mall was considered a (somewhat reluctant) new approach by Westfield, which had previously been accused of disregarding the outside effects of its malls, and of maximising commercial opportunities at the cost of the surrounding communities. Spurred by criticism and council plans to develop a 'town centre' instead of simply providing retail areas, Westfield changed its standard greenfields-type plans for the new site, and developed a more open centre with 'main street' elements and some public areas.
Significant change in Westfield thinking
' – ''The Bob Dey Property Report'', Monday 18 July 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
The change was considered a significant step away from the inward-looking shopping centres built in New Zealand in the 1990s, and North Shore City Council hoped that the centre would integrate with future growth in Albany rather than be a shopping destination alone.


Opening

Westfield Albany Stage One opened on 30 August 2007, with 65 shops trading. The rest of the shops opened on 1 November 2007 after a main opening ceremony attended by
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
and Westfield Group Managing Director
Steven Lowy Steven Mark Lowy (born 24 November 1962) is the former co-Chief Executive Officer of Westfield Corporation, a leading global shopping centre company that was acquired by French company Unibail-Rodamco in 2018 in what was one of the largest tr ...
, while the 10-screen cinemas' opening was delayed to April 2008.
Westfield opens Albany centre
' – ''The Bob Dey Property Report'', Thursday 31 August 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
In July 2008, the cinemas of the centre were closed preventively by Skycity cinemas due to weathertightness reasons. Problems with the roof had already caused a single cinema to be shut a month earlier. The cinemas were reopened about a week later. In May 2011, the mall was closed for inspection after sustaining damage when a tornado caused widespread damage and one fatality on Auckland's North Shore. Annual sales for the full year 2018 were $422.8 million.


Awards

In 2008, the centre received the highest award of the New Zealand Property Council, with the judges calling the centre being one of "a new generation of its type" and having a good mix of leisure and entertainment with an emphasis on public spaces, which had been "designed to provide a focal point for the whole Albany community and beyond".


References


External links


Westfield Albany
(official shopping centre website)

(Albany City Holdings Ltd. – includes 3D image with Westfield Albany at the centre of rendering) {{Shopping centres in New Zealand Shopping centres in the Auckland Region Shopping malls established in 2007 North Shore, New Zealand Albany 2007 establishments in New Zealand