Multiple groups deliver proposals for new Auckland stadium

A scoping exercise by Auckland Council on the future of stadia in the city has seen eight private developers deliver plans for a plan for a major outdoor venue.

Tasked with looking into whether to redevelop Eden Park or develop a new stadium, reviving the ongoing Auckland ‘stadia wars’ the Council’s Stadium Working Group has received six new proposals alongside existing plans from Eden Park and the long-promoted Waterfront Aotearoa Arena.

A statement from the working group, created by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, today advised “these proposals will be analysed by various experts to ensure all relevant and detailed information is received.

“The proposals were asked to provide detailed information including finance, build concepts, how it will be funded, ethical and social sustainability, collaboration and innovation that will meet the increasing needs of Auckland through sustainable events including sport, concerts, festivals.”

Mayor Brown has previously said that the Council is looking for proposals that required little or no ratepayer funding.

The Eden Park Trust announced plans (Eden Park 2.0) for the expansion and the addition of a roof to its venue in April while the waterfront proposal stadium proposal, which dates back more than a decade, was resurrected in May.

As reported by news website Stuff, the waterfront stadium was proposed by a private group in exchange for the Eden Park site and port land.

The working group has given no details about the six proposals, merely advising “presentations by the chosen consortiums that meet the brief will be held by the Stadium Working Group.”

A report commissioned in 2018 by then Auckland Mayor Phil Goff cost $1 million and found that there were viable sites around the city, but also noted that few stadiums around the world existed without public funding.

Click here for background on the Auckland Stadium Working Group.

Images: The Auckland Waterfront Consortium’s 2018 vision for a 50,000-seat, fully enclosed stadium on the Auckland Harbour (top, credit: Auckland Waterfront Consortium) and the Eden Park 2.0 concept, released in April (below, credit: Eden Park Trust).