ANZ, National Bank central Auckland staff to be consolidated to one office from three

By Gareth Vaughan

ANZ New Zealand has decided to consolidate more than 1,000 staff based in three central Auckland offices into just one from 2014 and might lend money to its new landlord to fund its refurbishment of the building.

The bank, comprising both ANZ and the National Bank, has signed a deal with landlord AMP NZ Office Ltd which will spend NZ$76 million upgrading the ANZ Centre at 29 Albert Street.  ANZ, which currently occupies seven and a half floors and 7,973 square metres in the building, has signed a new lease committing to 15 years over 18 floors, or 17,700 square metres, from January 1, 2014. Staff who currently work in the National Bank Tower at 205 Queen Street and ASB Building on Albert Street, with the latter including staff at wealth manager OnePath, will shift to the ANZ Centre.

At the Kiwi Income Property Trust owned National Bank Centre the bank currently occupies nine floors, or 8,178 square metres and at the Multiplex owned ASB Building, four floors or 3,414 square metres.

AMP NZ Office plans to fund the NZ$76 million refurbishment through bank loans. George Crawford, AMP NZ Office's chief financial officer, told interest.co.nz no deal had yet been reached with any bank or banks to provide the loans. AMP NZ Office was currently "in the market" looking to refinance its existing NZ$342.5 million worth of bank debt, which is split into two tranches due to mature in November this year and June next year. Those loans are with Westpac and BNZ.

Crawford said ANZ, alongside BNZ, Westpac and ASB, was a "likely participant" in the refinancing.

ANZ, whose CEO David Hisco is based in Auckland in contrast to predeccessor Jenny Fagg who was based in Wellington, is also reviewing its ongoing use of the National Bank brand.

An ANZ spokeswoman said the deal with AMP NZ Office follows an evaluation of the group's future accommodation options in Auckland, which coincided with the leases on two of its central Auckland buildings – National Bank Tower on Queen Street and the ANZ Centre on Albert Street – expiring in 2013.

"The agreement to refurbish ANZ Centre will enable us to serve the future needs of our customers and provide a great working environment for our people," the spokeswoman said. "It will drive greater collaboration and teamwork through the co-location of teams and business units that were previously dispersed across different buildings."

AMP NZ Office said the new deal made ANZ its biggest customer contributing about 8% of gross income. The NZ$76 refurbishment of the ANZ Centre will see a new Albert Street entrance including a glass pavilion built, a refurbished and extended lobby, and dedicated meeting room suite for ANZ.

In a research report released before the ANZ-AMP NZ Office announcement was made, Goldman Sachs analyst Buffy Gill said ANZ had held extended discussions with developer Tim Edney over the potential construction of a 30,000 square metres building at the Rose & Crown site on Customs Street with cost analysis, development feasibility and construction tenders all having been conducted.

Gill said Goldman Sachs understood other sites had also been considered including Britomart, the ground level car park on Shortland Street and a Fletcher Building site at Fanshawe Street.

See AMP NZ Office's presentation on the deal here.

* This article was first published in our email for paid subscribers this morning. See here for more details and to subscribe.