Engineering firm Beca will move its Auckland headquarters to Wynyard Quarter after signing a 12-year lease term for its northern "regional hub" with Precinct Properties.
About a third of Beca's 3,800 global employees, who are based in its Pitt St offices in Auckland, will relocate to a 14,049-square-metre site spanning two buildings: 124 Halsey St and next door 117 Pakenham buildings, spanning five levels.
The firm is expecting to move from its Pitt St offices in early 2025 and will get naming rights to the new location, it said.
Precinct has already started foundation work at the Halsey St address, part of the innovation precinct's final "stage three" development.
Beca chief executive Greg Lowe said the firm had considered a number of office options, including upgrading its existing $75 million, 17,478sqm Pitt St premises – the former site of Vodafone and the Auckland Regional Council.
However, he said the new location was within walking distance of many of Beca's clients.
"It will offer our people an exciting new working environment where we can collaborate more effectively across our teams and with our clients."
Early stage
Precinct chief executive Scott Pritchard said the deal will see the New Zealand stock exchange-listed firm formally commit to the seven-level, $115m Pakenham St project.
It will add about 8,600sqm lettable area to the waterfront precinct, bringing the stage-three total to 21,100sqm.
Pritchard said the landlord and developer now had commercial commitments for 65% of the stage's net lettable area by income.
“Securing an occupier like Beca so early in the stage of the development highlights the value that businesses continue to place on high-quality, centrally located office spaces; particularly as employees are returning to the office environment."
Last week, Beca was shortlisted by the NZ transport agency Waka Kotahi, alongside WSP, Systra and Cox Architecture, as part of a consulting alliance to work on a new Waitematā Harbour connection project.
However, the NZ-owned firm lost out for the next stage of Auckland's proposed $14.6 billion light rail project, to preferred bidders Australian engineering group Aurecon and British multinational Arup.
