Google New Zealand will move to its new Auckland waterfront offices in Wynyard Quarter's innovation precinct, as part of the local expansion of the US-based tech business.
A letting agent from Colliers International confirmed the tech giant had leased the 1,300 sqm sixth-floor offices at the recently completed, 9,000 sqm seven-level 10 Madden Street building, centred in what is the city's fast-growing creative hub.
It is also understood to have taken an option on the fifth floor, the agent said.
Google, which employs about 50 full-time staff across offices in Auckland and Wellington, works out of a shared working space at 12 Madden Street, which is managed by Generator.
It will now move into offices above a new campus for the international Media Design School, which has taken 5,000 sqm across the first four levels at 10 Madden.
Students and staff at the visual effects, gaming and design incubator were expected to move in this week, though that has been pushed to next week due to covid lockdown delays.
The $83 million building, developed by Precinct Properties and designed by architects Warren and Mahoney, was completed at the end of 2020.
Precinct said it is targeting a 5-star green design and "as-built" accreditation with daylight harvesting, energy-efficient LED lighting and photovoltaic solar panels on the roof feeding energy back into the building.
It also boasts "end of trip" facilities, 12 electric vehicle charging units and it will have a vertically planted green screen on its east side, featuring rainwater harvesting and native species.
A hybrid model
Google is part of the Alphabet conglomerate — the world’s third-largest technology company after Apple and Microsoft — and employs about 135,000 full-time employees globally. It has had a presence in NZ since 2007.
In December, the company stated that it didn’t expect employees to return to the office until about September this year, in the wake of the global pandemic and shifting work strategies.
Instead, it adopted a “hybrid’ work model, allowing staff to work about 40% of the time from home.
But while it incentivised its people to work from home, paying out US$1,000 per person last year to ensure they had proper at-home workspaces, chief executive Sundar Pichai has acknowledged that Google campuses are "designed to enable collaboration and community".
"In fact, some of our greatest innovations were the result of chance encounters in the office — and it’s clear this is something many of us don’t want to lose."
A Google NZ spokesperson said the firm hadn't yet confirmed a move-in date as it worked on its fit-out.
Part of a master plan
Wynyard Quarter, one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the country, has experienced massive growth over the past decade, home to residences, businesses and eateries — including the popular fish market.
Businesses in the precinct include Air NZ, Datacom, IBM and Fonterra and, based on Panuku Development's master plan, will eventually be home to about 25,000 workers and 3,000 residents by the time it is complete.
It's the third commercial build in Wynyard Quarter for the NZX-listed Precinct, owner of the $1 billion nearby Commercial Bay retail and new PwC Tower offices. It built Mason Brothers in 2016 and 12 Madden Street next door, finished in 2017.
And the developer isn't finished in the area, with Precinct chief executive Scott Pritchard telling BusinessDesk it is pursuing plans for three additional office buildings on adjacent sites at 124 Halsey St and 117 Pakenham St.
Leasing agents say the area is already attracting gross office rentals of about $550/sqm though that can track up to about $800/sqm for newer builds.
Colliers' national director of research and communications, Chris Dibble, notes that while approximately 39,000 sqm of premium office space had been added to the Auckland CBD market after the completion of the new PwC Tower last year, space in Wynyard Quarter had remained at a premium.
As a result, and while the average prime vacancy had averaged out at 6.8% in December in the city, and as high as 15.2% in the city’s midtown blocks, Wynyard Quarter had remained fully occupied for at least the past year.
