Queensgate Shopping Centre, New Zealand

History and development

The area was formerly a residential area. The houses were demolished in the mid-60s to mid-70s to make way for a transport centre. The centre opened in 1986. The centre refurbished in 1991 and was expanded. It was purchased by Westfield in 1999. Between 2004 and 2006 the mall had a big expansion doubling the size of the centre with a bigger carpark, more shops and a new Event Cinemas multiplex. The Woolworths supermarket that is overtaken by the carpark now has now moved south-east of the mall under The Warehouse. The centre has a catchment area of 375,030+ people. The centre has a footfall of over 8 million people per annum. The centre's floor space is 45,467 sqm and the centre has an annual turnover of NZ$202.5 million.

Thirteen structurally separate buildings make up the centre. Following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, the entire shopping centre closed for urgent safety inspections, partially reopening eleven days later. One building in the northeast corner of the mall, containing the Event Cinema and part of the carpark, was deemed structurally unsafe and was demolished. During the deconstruction of the northeast corner, half of the stores remained closed. The mall was completely reopened on 6 April 2017.

In 2017, a car dealer opened a showroom in the mall, complete with cars for a brief period.

Cinema and carpark rebuild

In 2019, rebuilding of the carpark and cinema commenced. On 17 September 2019, Event Cinemas were confirmed to be the new cinema complex operator. It was also announced that the region's first VMAX movie theatre would open in the site. It was reopened in December 2022.

Anchor Tenants

Queensgate has four anchor tenants.

Farmers has a two storey store in the centre of the mall.

Woolworths is on the ground floor of the mall, which originally was a Woolworths, prior to rebranding to Countdown, when the mall was redeveloped. However in 2025, has since reverted back to Woolworths inline with the company's larger reversion back to the Woolworths brand.

In October 2017, H&M opened a two storey store, their first in Wellington.

In December 2022, Event Cinemas reopened after being demolished due to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.

Transport

The centre is located on the corner of Queens Drive and Bunny Street in the centre of Lower Hutt. It is also the location of a major bus interchange (known as Lower Hutt Queensgate) with buses going to Upper Hutt, Waterloo Interchange, Petone, Wainuiomata and Wellington City. The centre is also a short walking distance from Melling railway station which has rail services to Wellington City via Petone/Alicetown. The centre has over 1,855 car park spaces.

Culture

The centre is known for the youths often seen frequenting the southern bus stop. A method used in deterring them is the use of classical music played through loudspeakers.

References

References

1. Hamish Rutherford. (27 November 2015). "Westfield malls in Lower Hutt and Hamilton to be rebranded after sale". Stuff.co.nz.
2. (7 November 2015). "Wellington's first mega-mall - 150 Years of news". [[Stuff (website).
3. (25 November 2016). "Quake aftermath: Demolition of part of mall confirmed". Radio New Zealand.
4. (12 July 2017). "Car showrooms open in Kiwi malls". Stuff.co.nz.
5. (17 September 2019). "Lower Hutt getting the regions first VMAX movie theatre". stuff.co.nz.
6. (26 October 2017). "H&M opening date confirmed for Queensgate Shopping Centre". scoop.co.nz.
7. Altenkamp, Rasmus. (30 July 2021). "RiverLink Integrated Transport Technical Assessment". [[Greater Wellington Regional Council]], [[Hutt City Council]], [[Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency]], [[New Zealand Upgrade Programme]].
8. "Lower Hutt tries bus-stop vibe to grate on young ears". Kylie Klein-Nixon.