Your midtown neighbourhood
Midtown neighbourhood
Midtown community update - October 2025
- As part of Te Hā Noa, on Victoria St West, the new balustrade has been installed near Elliott Street, with the last of the paving in this area expected to be completed this month. On Victoria St East, a new traffic island with a light will be installed on Bowen Ave.
- Wellesly Street Bus Improvements works are progressing well on both sides of the street. On the southern side, the new footpath outside the station will be poured before the end of the month. 70% of the new carriageway base is complete. On the northern side, paving continues between Albert and Queen Streets, including outside the Elliott Hotel and Smith & Caughey Business Tower.
- Around Te Waihorotiu Station, the last of the paving along the Wellesley Street entrance and Mayoral Drive is nearly complete.
- Streetscape works on Albert Street between Wyndham Street and Mayoral Drive are also almost complete. Garden beds, a mid-block pedestrian crossing, and most traffic lights have been installed. The southern arm of the Albert Street slip lane is underway and will be complete before Christmas.
- Below ground, Watercare’s micro tunnel boring machine has wrapped up its journey beneath Queen Street - finishing ahead of schedule. This marks a major milestone for midtown's wastewater upgrade, paving the way for pipeline and reinstatement works through to mid next year.
View the latest newsletter here
Subscribe to email updates here
Bringing people to midtown
Last Saturday, we hosted the Midtown Market Day teaming up with 26 local businesses to celebrate and showcase what midtown has to offer. Live music, interactive art, and free tastings filled the streets, drawing crowds throughout the afternoon in and around Elliott Street.
As one visitor put it, “Great stuff! The most people I’ve seen in this part of town in a long time. It was a great vibe." Coming up this month, placemaking and activations supported by the city centre targeted rate continue to bring people into midtown.
November Midtown Street Party: AfroSamba
Thursday 20 November, 5pm–8pm
After packing out the streets in 2023, AfroSamba returns to turn up the heat as the days get longer and warmer. Expect live drumming, Brazilian dancers, and arts & crafts pop-ups from the African diaspora and beyond. All set to a vibrant soundtrack of Afrobeat, DJs and global grooves.
Beats & Bites: Walking Food Tours with Chow Luck Club
Saturday, 29 November, 10am-3:30pm.
Free walking tours highlight the flavours that fuel the city centre. Visitors will have the chance to meet local vendors behind the counters and enjoy bite-sized tastings at each stop along the way, encouraging them to discover their next go-to dining spot in midtown.
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.