New plans for Otago Regional Council’s HQ revealed

The former site of The Warehouse in central Dunedin will be transformed into the new $45 million headquarters of the Otago Regional Council (ORC), and be known as Whare Rūnaka.

The Dunedin store, on Maclaggan St, was closed to the public in 2020 and bought by the regional council-owned Port Otago a year later.

The project was confirmed by councillors at a meeting on Wednesday, meaning a previous site earmarked for the new ORC building would not go ahead.

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That Birch St/Kitchener St site instead had been sold to Port Otago for $7.9m, with those funds going towards the fit out of the Maclaggan St building.

New headquarters were a priority of the regional council’s long-term plan 2021-2031, and staff are currently housed at three different sites.

ORC interim chief executive, Pim Borren, said plan included a commitment to relocate its 300-strong Dunedin workforce to a single head office site within the first three years of the plan.

The regional council will be a long-term tenant, initially with a 20-year lease then two 10-year right-of-renewals at market rental, with any surplus earnings from the rental to be returned to the council via a dividend.

The move would not have any effect on rates not anticipated in the current long term plan, with the balance of the funding to come from the building reserve.

The redevelopment, where workers had been visible from this week, would cost less than a new build, Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said.

‘’This option will create a modern workspace for council staff at lower cost and lower risk to the ORC and ratepayers, and will help revitalise this area of our city.’’

The Birch St/Kitchener St site used to be owned by the port company, and was where the marine team was based, with its barges and dredges.

‘’We are glad to have it back as part of our portfolio,” said Winders.

Plans for the area, which had been previously earmarked as part of a major harbourside development, could be known in the medium term, he said.

‘’It has got prospects for the future, we just need to work through getting a coherent plan around our needs to relocate the team there to other digs.’’

Meanwhile, the cost to Port Otago to redevelop the Maclaggan St building for the ORC, including painting over the trademark red colour, has increased from an estimated $38m in 2021, to $45m.

Leasing the new premises will cost the ORC $2.59m per year.

Port Otago will pay for the building redevelopment, the regional council will pay for tenant-specific fit-out costs. Plans for the future of the regional council’s current building on Stafford St were yet to be made.

Both parties would work with mana whenua; through Aukaha, in a co-design process as part of the building design.

Construction is expected to be completed Christmas 2024.