Westfield Albany

Westfield Albany

Looking at the centre from the northwest
Location	Albany, New Zealand
Opening date	2007
Developer	Westfield Group
Owner	Scentre Group
No. of stores and services	~ 150
No. of anchor tenants	4 (including cinemas)
Total retail floor area	49,000 m² (retail) / 21,000 m² (office)
No. of floors	2
Parking	~2000+ spaces
Website	westfield.co.nz/albany

Westfield Albany is a shopping centre in Albany, New Zealand, opposite the Albany Lakes Civic Park. It is majority owned (51%) by Scentre Group with the remainder owned by the Singapore Government's GIC Private Limited. Until 2014 it was wholly owned by Scentre Group, which was formerly part of Westfield Group.

Once the last sections opened in April 2008, at 7 ha (70,000 m²) of indoor space (4.9 ha retail [49,000 m²] and 2.1 ha [21,000 m²] offices), and costing around NZ$ 210 million to construct.

Westfield Albany provides over 2,000 carparks for around 150 specialty stores, as well as a large-format 2 floor 10,000 m² Farmers, a Kmart and a New World, and also contains an Event Cinemas multiplex cinema and a 560-seat food court which includes major fastfood franchises.

The centre was Westfield's first totally new mall since entering the New Zealand market in the mid-90s. When first mooted in 2003, it was conceived as a much smaller centre, with only 20,000 m² planned for initially, and a comparatively small later expansion of 15,000 m² mooted for a decade later. Westfield is already planning a large further expansion of the centre. Some experts see demand for about twice the size of the current centre in retail and associated office space in the wider Albany area. However, Westfield itself has in the past put in submissions against a District Plan plan change in the area, contending that it allowed for "excessive retail provision in the Albany area" (in a northern 'mainstreet' area separate from the core where Westfield and a number of other retailers have their sites). The challenge was rejected by the Environment Court.

The concept of the Albany mall is considered a (somewhat reluctant) new approach by Westfield, which has previously been accused of disregarding the outside effects of its malls, and of maximising commercial opportunities at the cost of the surrounding communities. Spurred by criticism as well as Council plans to develop a 'town centre' instead of simply providing retail areas, Westfield changed its standard greenfields-type plans for the new site, and developed a more open centre with 'main street' elements and some public areas. The change is considered a significant step away from the inward-looking shopping centres built in New Zealand in the 1990s, and North Shore Council hopes that the centre will integrate with the future growth in Albany rather than be a shopping destination alone.