Midtown neighbourhood
Midtown community update - 10 April 2025
What's happening in midtown
View the latest newsletter here.
There’s been great progress across midtown over the past few weeks, with key upgrades moving forward and new spaces starting to take shape.
Here’s a quick look at what’s been happening:
- On Victoria Street, planting is scheduled to begin soon on the eastern side between Lorne and Kitchener Streets.
- Wellesley Street West (Albert Street to Queen Street) is taking shape, with more concrete slabs poured, kerbs nearing completion and paving underway.
- City Rail Link streetscape reinstatement works are progressing well on Wellesley Street and Albert Street, with footpath and tree pit installation underway. The team will be planting a tulip tree in the area soon.
- Watercare midtown upgrades continue, with shaft excavation beginning at Queen Street/Mayoral Drive and piling underway on Wellesley Street East, with tunnelling preparation on the horizon.
Bringing people to midtown
There’s a growing sense of momentum in midtown, with events and activations helping to bring people into the city, creating a buzz along Elliott Street and inside the historic Strand Arcade.
The Midtown Street Party series, held every third Thursday, continues. March’s Pasifika Night was a standout, with drummers, dancers, DJs, and a market that brought Elliott Street to life.
Next up is Street Culture Night on Thursday 17 April, 5pm–8pm a celebration of urban art and creativity with DJs at Real Groovy and Elliott Street, live street art, and a curated art market in the Strand Arcade featuring vintage fashion, Manga, sculpture and more.
On Thursday 1 May, Opera in the Strand returns for New Zealand Music Month. Set in the Strand Arcade, this free event features performances from some of New Zealand’s most exciting young opera talent, offering a unique musical experience in a loved midtown location.
Our commitments to you
We recognise that the work to regenerate midtown isn't without some disruption, and we're working to reduce the impact on you as much as we can. These are some of the things we're doing to address the key frustrations that businesses, residents and property owners have expressed to us:
Coordinate work
- Across the Auckland Council group we’re committed to coordinating works where possible to reduce the overall disruption and get projects finished sooner.
Keep you informed
-
We know you need good information in order to plan for disruption. To stay up to date with the latest construction information and what is happening in your midtown neighbourhood, subscribe here.
-
You can also contact us with any questions or concerns at midtown@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz - we have a dedicated council representative on-street daily, checking in and sharing updates. They are your key point of contact for all information and any issues.
- You can view our latest newsletters here:
Minimise disruption
- Site works will generally be undertaken during daylight hours, Monday to Friday.
- We’ll do what we can to minimise noise and dust by using tools such as noise mats, cutting booths, and carefully choosing where things are positioned. Noisy works will mostly be during the day to minimise disruption to nearby residents and timed to be considerate of the needs of nearby residents and businesses where possible.
- At times it may be necessary to work at night, and we'll give you as much notice as possible. We'll do our best to minimise disruption to people sleeping nearby.
- Waste management and collection points will be maintained.
Make sure you can still do what you do
- We’ll maintain access to your building and business throughout construction, and we’ll talk to your body corporate/property managers about managing impacts.
- We’ll have good traffic management in place, including temporary loading bays to support loading and servicing in impacted areas.
- We know construction disruption can be really tough for small businesses, so we're offering the Midtown Small Business Support Programme, which includes a free business connector service and microgrants to eligible businesses.
Encourage people to keep coming to the area
- Safe pedestrian access to buildings will be maintained at all times, so your customers or visitors can get to you. We’ll need to re-route people from time to time but we will use clear signage to help people get around.
- We’ll use a mixture of fencing and hoardings to keep people safe, while providing light and visibility to businesses in the area.
- We’re working with property managers to add interest to empty storefronts until new tenants are in place. If you’re interested in being part of our vacant stores programme, please contact Heart of the City.
- We’re also working with Heart of the City on initiatives to improve safety in the city centre.
- We are hosting events and activities to attract more people to the midtown area. You can read more about these events here. If you’d like to participate in future events, contact us at midtown@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz – we welcome expressions of interest from all ground/first floor businesses in the midtown area. We can help with ideas for activities, offers or promotions if needed.