$400m St James Apartments plans in Auckland's Queen St - urban design panel seeks changes

Auckland Council's Urban Design Panel wants changes to a proposed $400 million apartment tower beside the historic St James Theatre - a scheme two levels higher than previous plans for the site last decade.

Panel members Lisa Mein and Shannon Joe sought refinements to the latest 43-level, 400-unit structure replacing previously consented St James Suites for Auckland's Queen St.

Previous plans were ditched in 2016 when the St James Suites was declared not viable due to financial circumstances.

Although the panel said it supported the redevelopment of the site at 304 Queen St, and St James theatre restoration, it wanted refinements to the second scheme.

Applicant Relianz Holdings said the new taller tower would not impact Aotea Square's shading control.

But the panel said it would cause additional shading of the public open space within Aotea Square during the morning around the equinox.

Importantly at the new 43-level height proposed - two storeys higher than the earlier plan - the tower would be very prominent on the skyline.

The panel said the design should be further refined to ensure a more elegant structure.

The panel recommended removing fins and ventilation grilles to simplify the façade and celebrate the sculptural curvature of the building.

It also asked for further renders and façade detail drawings to show that proposed opening sash windows and any operable openings to the balconies or winter gardens did not significantly impact the façade's visual appearance.

"We approached the panel early in the design process in November last year to get their feedback," Steve Bielby of Auckland Notable Properties Trust said.

"We then incorporated this feedback into the design.

"We went back to them in March and they were supportive of the proposal with some additional feedback we have also since incorporated."

He acknowledged concerns about bulk and mass in such a tall apartment block but believed the new design was significantly better than the previous one for just over 300 units.

"We have made the building more slender in terms of its presence on Queen St," he said today.

The apartment project needed to go ahead for the St James Theatre restoration to resume.

That has been stalled for years, the theatre shut and unable to be used because its floor has been dug up.

Bielby acknowledged recent break-ins and thefts from the St James Theatre and said that prompted him to announced the second set of apartment plans.

The project team had analysed the strengths and weaknesses of those plans, he said.

"What we concluded from that process was we needed the ability to split the projects, as the theatre is perceived as a huge risk by funders for the apartment development and potential funders for the theatre are looking for some certainty from the apartments before committing further," he said.

Bielby acknowledged apartment market conditions: flat or declining residential sales values and quickly escalating construction and interest costs.

So winning a new resource consent did not mean the second planned apartment project would be built straight away "but when the market conditions do come right we're aiming to be first cab off the rank", Bielby said.

Two years ago, Bielby said he wanted $300m in Government funding to restore and reopen the venue and develop a previously-ditched new apartment block next door.

State Infrastructure Reference Group chairman Mark Binns had written to him, confirming possible state involvement, Bielby said in 2020. Binns did not comment at the time.