The commercial property market in Auckland is finally starting to look truly more buoyant.

Some new commercial premises are about to be built, and there is definitely an air of confidence around. Just look at the buzz surrounding the opening of the Wynyard Quarter down at the Viaduct Harbour.

It has been particularly up and down since the Global Financial Crisis and I had to smile today thinking of how, nearly two years ago, I was optimistically talking about (more…)

The name of the Auckland Council’s spatial plan, Auckland Unleashed, could be a real two-edged sword.

I can appreciate the idea that the Council wants the city to take off but there is also the risk you could take ‘unleashed’ to mean something wild and uncontrolled.

And it will be getting controls right that will determine whether Auckland can grow in the right way and fulfil its potential. (more…)

I think if you would ask any man on the street about where the United States is at economically right now, and they would say it’s a bit of a basket case.

We hear almost daily about the rise of the new economies of China, India, and Brazil.

But if one digs a little deeper, (more…)

A few weeks ago I wrote about work space consultant Philip Ross’ ideas about how to increase productivity through rethinking how and where we work.

His ideas really struck a chord with me, and it got me to thinking about how many businesses today are being confronted by really getting to grips with figuring how much space they really need, and how to group their activities.

For instance, today 15 to 17 percent of a work space is taken up with (more…)

I think no matter where we live, we are all reeling in the aftermath of the series of natural disasters of the past few months; the Queensland floods, the Christchurch earthquake, and Japan’s tsunami and nuclear plant disasters.

It is really hard to rise above the shock and horror to think about what’s next, and what we can do to safeguard the future.

(more…)

There are no two ways about it, it has been a particularly tough year in the commercial property lease market.

And for commercial landlords who are relative newcomers to this market, they won’t have seen anything like it.

I have not seen the market so tough since the property crash that followed the 1987 share market crash.

Hardest hit in this market slump are (more…)

A radical overhaul of accounting practices for property leases in the United States is likely to lead to dramatic changes in the way commercial property is leased in New Zealand.

These changes have their roots in the major upheavals in the United States corporate world when companies such as Enron and Andersons were found to have ‘cooked the books’.

The Global Financial Crisis compounded concerns about the financial reporting of property leases.

Currently, both in the US and NZ, leased property is (more…)

The focus I’m hearing in most conversations about the impending Auckland Super City is on the politics, efficiencies and costs.

And that’s fair enough. After all, it is our money as ratepayers that is being spent in the great reshuffle.

But I am also interested in some of the opportunities the new city structure brings, and what needs to happen to make them a reality.

Auckland has (more…)

It is very easy to take things for granted and make assumptions in business.

Even successful and smart business leaders can make the wrong assumptions about basic costs. I think sometimes the mind can play tricks on us too, and we can browse a set of accounts or a written article and miss some details that we either think are irrelevant or that we don’t want to know about.

I sometimes speculate that there is a good deal of emotion attached to figures related to mortgages and rent. We often (more…)