Northcote town centre is getting some love!

11 December 2024

Northcote
News
Development
Urban regeneration
Sustainability

The town centre was state-of-the-art in the 1960’s when it was built, but it now needs some love to support the growing community – and this is on its way.

With lots of new homes, Northcote is one of Auckland’s fastest growing suburbs. It’s easy to understand why. It’s close to the city-centre, with great schools, nearby beaches, and it boasts an array of great Asian eateries and a distinct vibe.

Eke Panuku Development Auckland is leading the regeneration of the town centre. Working with development partners, mana whenua, Kaipātiki Local Board, locals, and others, Eke Panuku will build on Northcote’s unique character to create a more thriving heart for the community - a place where locals, culture and businesses can flourish.

During 2025, work will start on new public facilities:

A new community hub – on the current Northcote Library site.
The final section of Te Ara Awataha – completing the daylighting of the stream and this much-loved greenway.
An upgraded Puāwai Cadness Reserve, next to the new community hub.
A new main street - Ernie Mays Street, connecting College and Lake Roads.

From 2027 and in stages over 10 years, Northcote town centre will also benefit from a larger supermarket, new shops, offices, eateries, homes, car parking, laneways, and a new town square.

These developments will come together to transform the heart of Northcote, to make the neighbourhood an even better place to live, work, shop and do business.

New community hub & upgraded Puāwai Cadness Reserve – mid-late 2025-2027

A new hub, and the upgraded reserve next door, will create better public spaces for the community to come together and enjoy.

The new hub will bring together the following in one space: the library, Hearts & Minds, NorthArt, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Plunket, and community rooms for hire.

There will also be a large, covered verandah to connect the hub and upgraded reserve, creating wonderful indoor-outdoor flow. Stormwater management will be addressed too, to prevent flooding - a problem for the library in the past.

The under-utilised reserve will be transformed with a completely new look. There will be a new basketball court, a large lawn area with a shelter from the weather, two play spaces for both younger and older children, two garden areas, new public toilets and more trees and other plants to make it a more attractive and useable community space.

The plaza in front of the new hub, Norman King Square, will be enlarged and upgraded with more trees and plants to create a visually appealing hub entrance. This will help celebrate Norman King - an Aucklander brought up in a state house, with no secondary schooling, who become a Labour Minister of Welfare, 1972-1974, and introduced humanitarian measures to help solo parents, pensioners, the disabled and at-risk youth.

Artist’s impressions of Northcote’s new community hub & upgrade of Puāwai Cadness Reserve

Artist’s impressions of Northcote’s new community hub & upgrade of Puāwai Cadness Reserve

Artist’s impressions of Northcote’s new community hub & upgrade of Puāwai Cadness Reserve

Temporary community hub

In January 2025, the current tenants of the Norman King building - Hearts & Minds and NorthArt – will temporarily move to the nearby hall at 1 Ernie Mays Street. In mid-late 2025, they will be joined by the library, as well as the Citizens Advice Bureau and Plunket, to create a temporary community hub during construction of the new hub.

Once the new community hub is completed in 2027, they will all shift into this as their permanent home.

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Temporary new community hub at 1 Ernie Mays Street

Completion of Te Ara Awataha - Northcote’s new greenway

Te Ara Awataha is a wonderful green pathway that runs alongside the Awataha Stream in Northcote and links a series of new or upgraded reserves.

The stream, partly brought to the surface from underground pipes, provides a beautiful natural environment for native flora and fauna and locals alike. It also functions as a natural channel for stormwater to prevent flooding in the area.

The pathway connects pedestrians and cyclists to the neighbourhood and nature, providing many health and wellbeing benefits for the community.

There’s one final section of the greenway to complete – around the town centre. Work will start on this from mid-2025, to make the area more attractive and useable. It will bring nature into the town centre, and mean easy access for pedestrians and cyclists.

Once completed, Te Ara Awataha will provide 1.5km of greenway for locals to love. It will stretch all the way from the source of the Awataha Stream, in Papa ki Awataha Jessie Tonar Scout Reserve, to Te Kaitaka Greenslade Reserve and the town centre, and on to Kukari pocket park.

Location of the new section of Te Ara Awataha.

Northcote’s gets a new main road

Ernie Mays Street will be realigned with Deuxberry Avenue and extended, in stages from mid-2025, to Lake Road to become the new bus route through the town centre and the main entrance into the town centre for pedestrians and cyclists. It will also connect to the new hub and plaza, the upgraded reserve, and the green space of Te Ara Awataha.

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Zero Waste approach

To make way for these developments, some aging buildings will need to be removed. As part of the Eke Panuku zero-waste approach to reshaping the town centre, rather than simply demolishing buildings, they will be sustainably removed to limit what is sent to landfill.

At a similar cost to demolition, the buildings will be taken apart so material can be reused for other community projects or sold at affordable prices at Wairau Zero Waste Hub.

This supports Northcote’s zero waste aspiration and Auckland Council’s goal to be zero waste by 2040. It is also better for the planet and the community.

In February 2025, you’ll see the NorthArt and Hearts and Minds building (the Norman King building) being taken apart, so the first stage of the redeveloped Ernie Mays Street can start.

Parking behind the shops will be affected during removal. As much as possible, Eke Panuku will work to ensure disruption to the heart of Northcote is minimised while the redevelopment takes place.

There are exciting times ahead for Northcote. To find out more, go to: www.ekepanuku.co.nz/northcote