Showcasing the major growth in development that’s expected to take place in Tauranga’s CBD within the next eight years, the city’s new CBD Blueprint represents a pivotal turning point for New Zealand’s fastest growing city.

Launched today (13th May) by Priority One, the Western Bay of Plenty region’s economic development agency, the Blueprint highlights the 20 catalyst developments that are committed for the city before 2030, underpinning $1.5B in confirmed investment and laying the foundation for further opportunities.

“This Blueprint is the first of its kind for Tauranga – never before have we been able to bring together this level of certainty for the community,” says Priority One CEO, Nigel Tutt.

The Blueprint has been developed in partnership with developers, investors, central government and Tauranga City Council.

“The Blueprint showcases the depth of investment from these groups of people, who are collectively investing billions of dollars into our local economy, building a thriving city that meets the needs of our people today, and tomorrow,” says Tutt.

Bayleys Head of Insights, Data and Consulting, Chris Farhi, says the developments shown in the Blueprint demonstrate that Tauranga CBD will be amongst the most transformed city centres in New Zealand over the coming decade.

“The existing low-rise development across most of Tauranga CBD creates a widespread canvas that is not available in places like Auckland CBD or Wellington CBD,” he says.

Tutt says it’s expected more developments will be added to the Blueprint in time as demand from investors and developers wanting to be part of the reinvigoration of the CBD, heats up.

“Purposefully, we’ve only included developments that have high levels of certainty to give credibility to the plan, however, as interest and excitement builds, we expect we’ll see more,” says Tutt.

Key developments in the Blueprint include a range of residential and commercial buildings, the new Tauranga District Court and the proposed projects included in the refreshed masterplan for the civic precinct – Te Manawataki o Te Papa. 

Director of Classic Group, Peter Cooney, says the launch of the CBD Blueprint has been a long time coming and he’s thrilled with the collaborative and coordinated approach.

“The increased opportunity for development in Tauranga over the next eight years and the scale of private and council led development makes for a very exciting time in Tauranga,” he says.

In the future, Tauranga’s CBD will be uniquely shaped by eight precincts to help support the growth and investment required to make Tauranga’s CBD a thriving civic, commercial, and cultural hub.

Tutt says ultimately, as a result of the significant work taking place, many more people will be choosing to live, study, work and play in the CBD over the next decade, creating a more vibrant and exciting city to enjoy.

Priority One will be hosting CBD Blueprint Walking Tours to showcase the developments outlined in the CBD Blueprint. To register to attend a walking tour, and for additional information around the Tauranga CBD Blueprint, visit: www.priorityone.co.nz/cbd-blueprint