A group of private investors believe they've found a way to make Auckland's elusive waterfront stadium a reality - and all without any public funding.
The Auckland Waterfront Consortium has put forth a proposal for 50,000-seat, fully enclosed stadium to be built at a redeveloped Bledisloe Wharf within the next 10 years, at no cost to Auckland rates and taxpayers.
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The self-funded consortium, made up of the likes of Ernst & Young, Simpson Grierson, and Jones Lang Lasalle, has spent the last 18 months working on its bid.
It includes the multi-purpose stadium, the redevelopment of the wharf and the redevelopment of Eden Park for residential use.
"We are a group of professionals who are deeply invested in our city and who understand the realities of a project of this scale, and its regional and national significance," said consortium chair Dave Wigmore.
"Our proposal is exciting, very ambitious, but represents a superb solution for the waterfront and the city as a whole.
"Importantly, it is financially feasible and achievable. It is the most advanced waterfront stadium proposal on the table."
He says Auckland needs a world-class, fully roofed stadium in a readily accessible location and the city has a once-only opportunity to get it right.
"Sinking the stadium into the seabed eliminates most of the contentious, costly and complex aesthetic and engineering issues of an above-ground stadium, and is very doable from an engineering perspective.
"The stadium will not encroach into the harbour beyond the northern tip of Bledisloe Wharf and will involve the removal of other obsolete wharves, ensuring the net seabed take is minimised."
Wigmore adds that the stadium's design and engineering will be "in accordance with international best practice to meet accepted seismic design principles, and recommendation on rising sea levels and tsunami modelling".
The consortium plans to continue discussions with all stakeholders, before putting together a proposal to attract a lead investor.
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