The Crossing
Nicky Carter, General Counsel with the Carter Group, shared her experiences over the last four years with the development of “The Crossing” project in the Christchurch city centre.
Following the decimation of the city centre by the quakes which resulted in a blank canvas, planning for the complex has been underway in order to help influence what shape the area takes.
The silver lining, explained Nicky, was that this provided the Carter Group with the opportunity to redesign and reinvest in the city centre. This required a lot of faith which was also well demonstrated by Ballantynes and others in the early days.
Nicky especially appreciated the support that a number of local businesses showed by being willing to take up leases when the area was in its very early stages of development.
The Crossing consists of three buildings titled A, B & C with a total area larger than the Sydney Opera House. Construction started in 2015 which included positioning 800 16-metre piles in order to properly set the foundations.
“We retained many of the original features”, said Nicky, “but had to include additional strengthening and the restoration of some key aspects which was costly. “
“A real plus was gaining the huge global H&M Company but it wasn’t without its challenges” explained Nicky, which included having to initially attract them in the first place and then later deal with an issue regarding the position of a structural beam.
Luckily this was solved within a week and, while it was touch and go leading up to the opening, the target date of Sept 9th was successfully met. Nicky shared that they still have a way to go to attract additional retailers but things are looking good.
With respect to additional development, Nicky is hopeful that issues including the Cathedral and a Sports Centre will be resolved in the near future followed by the building of a larger stadium in order to create further growth in the city. She sees this as a way to help ensure Christchurch stays on the map for hosting major events in the coming years.
Nicky also shared that she feels it is a good thing to have a more compact and focussed CBD compared to what was sometimes a quite muddled area that evolved over a number of years.
In reflecting on the multiple challenges involved in this project, Nicky shared with a laugh: “I am not sure if I will do this again.”
We suspect, however, that her demonstrated perseverance and talent in making a significant contribution to the success of this major project may well result in her receiving additional offers to help as the central city rebuild continues.