Johnsonville Johnsonville Mall redevelopment will impact property values
I have quoted my Principal below from a press release this week regarding the proposed Mall redevelopment in Johnsonville’s town centre.
“You will know about the new Johnsonville mall expansion about to enter a public consultation phase. At Guardian First National, we can only see benefits from this venture.
It will provide jobs and make the Northern Suburbs an even more appealing choice of where to live. Any increase in desirability will affect demand and increase values for all property in this general area, potentially making your properties worth more.
Overseas examples show retail developments like this driving residential and business property values up by around 10% in 12 months. I don’t know if we will see that jump of that size but it gives an indication of how increased desirability can affect demand for housing.
The investment of such a large sum of money into the area by DNZ Property Group will bring many improvements to Johnsonville centre that are long overdue. To accommodate such a large development the Johnsonville ratepayers will benefit from a major upgrade of the Johnsonville Centre traffic management including a new railway bridge in Broderick Road and four lanes in Moorefield Road.
The mall redevelopment will provide greater quality and variety of stores and less traveling time for local shoppers. Their own neighbourhood will meet their shopping requirements under cover including free covered parking. This will benefit families particularly.
They will have easy access to a neighbourhood mall that provides comfortable all weather shopping including free covered parking and an extensive variety of quality retail. It relieves shoppers of the need to travel to the CBD and deal with the hassle of finding a car park close to a retailer they would otherwise need to visit, not to mention the cost of that parking nor the difficulties returning purchases to that car park in inclement weather.
“The expansion of the Johnsonville Mall will provide an affordable alternative for business people and retailers to the ‘golden mile’.
We were not impressed by Wellington City Council’s rushing through planning changes (DPC66) to protect the ‘golden mile’ by limiting the scale of development in outer suburbs.
It is a short-sighted knee jerk reaction. Any legislation that provides this kind of protection simply inflates the value of what it protects and ultimately puts the value beyond the very ones intended to benefit. In this case it will further increase rents on the ‘golden mile’ pushing out the retailers they set out to protect.
Rents in the Golden Mile are not only at least 100% more expensive for retailers than in the Kapiti and Porirua areas but availability is scarce. For retailers moving into an economic climate where shoppers are watching their spending, being in a high pedestrian area while at the same time being able to lease affordable retail space is of increasing importance. The Johnsonville Mall expansion is important to stimulate economic activity in the Wellington region.
“There was no consultation before this change was rushed through council. It was initiated by Wellington City Council officers who spent some years working in confidence with the Johnsonville mall developers and then used this confidential information to rush through this change without full consideration to its wider effects.
Economic growth in any area of Wellington benefits the region as a whole. Johnsonville is pretty much equal distance from the three major cities in the Wellington Region, approximately 10 minutes from Wellington CBD, Porirua City and Lower Hutt. Motorway and rail link all three. This makes it an ideal shopping option for all residents of these three cities. Council support for the Johnsonville mall extension would make sound sensible planning commonsense”
Paul Coltart
Principal
Guardian First National
December 15 2008 10:50 am | Local events, news and views
