Million-dollar dumps: The Auckland car park worth $82.5 million
Downtown Auckland is going through huge transformation with its various streetscape and transport projects. But in stark contrast, several plots of land worth hundreds of millions of dollars have sat as car parks since buildings were knocked down in the 1980s.
The Elliott St car park sits on a 4417 square metre plot of land, valued at $82.5 million.
The land has sat undeveloped as a car park - where an hour will cost you $19 - since the Royal International Hotel was demolished in 1987.
It was purchased by Singapore company NDG Asia Pacific (NZ) Limited for $53m in 2012, and in 2017 the company was given approval by the Overseas Investment Office to build and operate a 52-storey, five- star Ritz-Carlton Hotel, with 300 guest rooms, four floors for hotel facilities, six for retail and five for car parking.
The development is expected to cost $350m, with the start of construction dependent on the completion of City Rail Link. However, the resource consent for the tower is due to expire in October.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.1% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.9% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
Scam Alert: Fake information regarding December Bonuses from MSD
The Ministry of Social Development is reporting that fake information is circulating about new ‘December bonuses’ or ‘benefit increases’
If you get suspicious communication, please contact Netsafe.
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