Investment banking giant JP Morgan has thrown its weight behind Auckland’s Wynyard Point Stadium project as the city’s council prepares to choose which of the four stadium proposals it will back.
1News understands the council will hold a workshop on Thursday to discuss the options, with the council voting on its two preferred proposals at a meeting the following Thursday.
The decision will be another step towards answering the vexed question of how Auckland can create a world-class sporting facility, with Mount Smart Stadium, North Harbour Stadium and Eden Park all requiring significant ratepayer-funded investment just to maintain the status quo.
A revamped Eden Park is one of the options, along with three waterfront proposals: the Wynyard Point Stadium on the site of the old Tank Farm, the “Sunken Stadium” proposal nearby at Bledisloe Point, and the New Zealand Rugby-backed Te Tōangaroa bid behind the port in Quay Park. All stadiums will have a roof under their current proposals.
The assumption is that next Thursday the council will give the go-ahead to its two preferred bids to continue feasibility studies.
1News understands the Eden Park revamp will almost certainly be one of those, with the “Sunken Stadium” bid the least likely to get the nod, making for a potential head-to-head between the Wynyard Point Stadium and Te Tōangaroa bids.
The priority for the council will be how to build a modern sporting facility without putting more of a financial burden on ratepayers, which will make JP Morgan’s interest significant.
Investment company Goldman Sachs is backing the Te Tōangaroa bid.
In a statement sent to 1News today, the United States-based investment bank said: “JP Morgan looks forward to engaging further with the Wynyard Point Stadium Project (WPSP) and consortium, bringing its credentials [and] experience to the WPSP group during the next stage."
“JPMorgan has been involved in some of the largest and most complex stadium financings undertaken in recent years, including the likes of SoFi Stadium (LA Rams/LA Chargers (US)), Spotify Camp Nou (FC Barcelona (Spain)), Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (Real Madrid (Spain)), the Sphere (Las Vegas (US)), Co-op Live (Manchester (UK)), YouTube Theatre (Los Angeles (US)) and the Q2 Stadium (Austin FC (US)).”
Wynyard Point’s backers also include global stadium designer Populous, and leading stadium builder BESIX Watpac, which won the contract to build the Te Kaha stadium in Christchurch.
Consortium head Richard Dellabarca told 1News: “JP Morgan has a specialist team focusing on sports stadiums around the world and their willingness to get involved with us is a pretty big statement on the quality of the stadium, the location and the people involved.”
Dellabarca, a former New Zealand Rugby board member, said the proposal could become reality as soon as 2030. “That’s a realistic time frame. The British and Irish Lions are coming in 2029 - they could play two Tests at Eden Park in a fitting farewell and potentially play the next 100 years at Wynyard Point.”
Questions about Auckland’s stadiums, which include Western Springs, have been asked for decades with no resolution.
A waterfront stadium was proposed before the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Instead, $256 million was spent upgrading Eden Park.
A confidential stadiums report to the council in 2019 said maintaining the status quo would “commit the council to a capital spend of more than $600 million over the next 20 years versus just over $300m if it implements a new venue development strategy”.
Supporters of a waterfront stadium point to its potential for revitalising the downtown area and the vastly superior public transport options compared with Eden Park.
Information provided by the Wynyard Point proposal said its location near ferry and bus services and Britomart rail station meant 76,000 people could be moved per hour by the time the stadium is complete.
The Wynyard Point site is owned by Auckland Council and managed by council-operated organisation (COO) Eke Panuku Development.
The Te Tōangaroa bid proposes a new 15ha urban neighbourhood at Quay Park, bordered by Spark Arena and Quay St, on Ngāti Whātua land, in the old Auckland Railways yard.
Potential fish hooks include the need to build on top of the rail tracks - owned by KiwiRail - and the protected viewshafts from the Auckland museum, along with the need to re-align Quay Street.
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