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Templeton Group, one of New Zealand's most experienced high-rise developers, today presented its preliminary design for Victoria Street Tower to Hamilton City Council – a project that will deliver Hamilton's first true high-rise tower.
Situated on Victoria Street beside the Waikato River, the $100 million-plus landmark tower will rise 25 levels, with a total gross floor area of approximately 25,000 square metres.
Templeton Group founder and chairman Nigel McKenna said Victoria Street Tower is not simply a new building.
“It is a vertical city – a fully integrated mixed-use development with a complexity and depth of programme that places it alongside the most significant urban projects ever delivered in New Zealand.”
The development will include:
Two levels of basement car parking
Three levels of hospitality and dining, including five food and beverage venues at ground level opening to an activated public plaza
A 200-plus room international 5-star hotel with conference and pre-function facilities
A world-class health, wellness and spa facility with pool terrace
27 serviced apartments and 25 branded residences, including sub-penthouses and a penthouse
A rooftop sky bar and club lounge with panoramic views of the Waikato River and Hamilton skyline
Mayor Tim Macindoe said “The latest images shared by Templeton Group are exciting and reveal a bold vision for Hamilton’s future. A 25‑storey riverfront development of this scale will continue Hamilton’s evolution into a thriving, modern city, with a hotel, apartments, and a world‑class dining precinct right on our river’s edge.
"This development also arrives at exactly the right time for Hamilton. With Fieldays and the Chiefs currently drawing huge crowds, and a growing calendar of major events bringing visitors here from across New Zealand and beyond, the need for more accommodation has never been clearer.
"A 2025 feasibility study shows Hamilton will require around 500 additional hotel rooms by 2030, and demand will continue to grow across the city, including close to Claudelands, where increased accommodation capacity would deliver significant economic benefits associated with major events" said Mayor Macindoe.
McKenna said Victoria Street Tower will be the most complex, most visible, and consequential private development Hamilton has ever seen.
“It will bring international hotel brands to the city for the first time at this level, activate one of Hamilton’s most significant riverfront precincts, generate substantial construction and operational employment, and signal to investors, visitors, and residents alike that Hamilton is a city building for its future with confidence and ambition.”
McKenna is one of just a handful of New Zealand developers with a proven track record in delivering multiple high-rise towers. His completed projects include the Abstract Hotel (12 levels), Rydges Hotel (18 levels), Unilodge on Anzac (20 levels), and the Quadrant Hotel (24 levels), each delivered over a typical five-to-six year development cycle.
Across more than three decades, McKenna has delivered more than 1000 hotel rooms across New Zealand, from The Sebel at the Viaduct in 1998 through to the recently opened Abstract Hotel and Residences in Auckland, which Templeton owns and operates. McKenna’s earlier projects, including The Viaduct in Auckland, and Dockside and Shed 5 in Wellington, remain active and greatly valued parts of their cities more than 30 years on.
Waikato travellers have taken to a return of trans-Tasman flights from Hamilton, with a 39% leap in Hamilton Airport passenger numbers in the second half of last year.
And along with more incoming Aussies, some Kiwis are even driving down from Bombay to skip a trip out of Auckland over a Waikato offering.
Hamilton Airport recorded the surge in passenger numbers during the six months to December 2025 - an increase of 71,000 travellers on the year earlier.
According to their six-month report around 55,000 flyers were taking to the skies for international routes between Hamilton, Sydney and the Gold Coast.
Hamilton Airport chief executive Mark Morgan said that since the start of Jetstar’s daily international flights across the ditch, “the buzz hasn’t stopped since”.
The Waikato Times had earlier revealed that in the first month since the service launched, almost 9000 passengers took flights to Australia.
The commercial property market appears to be on a strong footing in the regions.
From his base in Hamilton, Mike Neale is well positioned to assist vendors and purchasers across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
Demand is pushing up prices, rents and leases, but supply is growing too. Coupled with growth in transport networks, this is highly promising for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, Neale says.
“Hamilton was once the poor cousin in the Golden Triangle, but it’s firmly on the radar now.
“We’re seeing an increasing amount of investors from outside come in, from Auckland and Wellington particularly,” he says.
“Tauranga has been the golden child in many ways, with a more affluent population, but I think it’s evened out a lot more now.”
Neale is managing director of NAI Harcourts in Hamilton and has more than 20 years’ experience specialising in commercial real estate.
Overall, the commercial real estate market has been showing a return to good form, he says.
“There’s certainly a lot more interest in commercial property. It’s been driven by the lowering of the Official Cash Rate and particularly bank deposit rates.
“People are looking at other forms of investment so there have been significantly more inquiries and we’re certainly starting to see a rise in values.”
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New hotels can’t come soon enough if Hamilton wants to lift its share of domestic tourism spend and overtake Wellington, city leaders say.
Figures show spending by Kiwi visitors in Hamilton and nearby districts held steady in May at $61 million — the fourth-highest in the country behind Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.
But acting city council chief executive Sean Murray says Hamilton’s visitor economy won’t take off without more beds.
“We know categorically that we are missing business because we don’t have enough rooms in the city,” he said.
To fix that, two major developments are in the pipeline: the Pullman Hotel, due to open next year, and Templeton’s planned hotel, which has yet to confirm its timeline.
About 22,100 people have been commuting into Hamilton for their jobs each day.
That’s about equivalent to the population of Cambridge, and makes up a big chunk of the city’s workforce.
“It’s already a nightmare coming into the city at peak times”, Hamilton city councillor Sarah Thomson said - so the council will have to work with its neighbours on transport options.
She was speaking after a meeting on the figures, which are based on national Census data and were outlined in a report to the latest city council strategic growth and district plan committee.
The flow goes both ways for Hamilton. Some 13,100 residents head out of the city borders for work - about 9% of the city’s workers, according to the latest 2023 figures.
Two of Hamilton’s newest bridges have got “massive” international recognition, showing they measure up against projects including billion-dollar transit hubs.
Te Ara Pekapeka and the Taurapa pedestrian bridge, which connect Hillcrest and the future Peacocke development, got a special mention at the Architizer A+ Awards, placing them among the top 5% of global entries.
The international awards recognise excellence in architecture and design. Out of more than 3500 submissions, the Hamilton bridges stood out in the infrastructure category, placing them alongside mega projects like European train stations and billion-dollar transit hubs.
“It feels pretty amazing, this is massive recognition for a small studio in a small country,” said Harry Croucher, principal at Edwards White Architects and one of the lead designers.
As of May 2025, there were 705 equivalent full-time international students enrolled, up 44% from May 2024, according to figures released by Te Pūkenga.
In the 12 month period ending May 2025, international students at all Te Pūkenga polytechnics saw growth.
Wintec operations manager Warwick Pitts said international student numbers at Wintec and across Te Pūkenga are returning to pre-Covid levels.
He said New Zealand had a strong international reputation before Covid and that remains true.
Te Matatini may be heading for Hamilton sooner than the scheduled 2029 date - if one Hamilton City Councillor has her way.
Councillor Maria Huata said she has been lobbying for the event to come to Hamilton / Kirikiriroa and that there had been “rumblings in the ether” that it could be staged here in 2027.
Huata made the comments as Hamilton also positions itself as one of the contenders for hosting the Homegrown music festival.
Huata said she was “dead set on [Te Matatini] being held in Kirikiriroa”.
The biennial event, which was staged in New Plymouth this year, was scheduled to next take place in the Nelson-Marlborough region, though funding doubts have been raised about that location.
A big shake-up for one of the CBD’s busiest streets is on the cards as officials grapple with the reality of bold plans to bring a new “five-star” $100 million Pullman Hotel to the city.
The changes to Ward St include a new two to three vehicle loading zone area with a five-minute limit outside the current Chemist Warehouse - guests will be able to park their cars there before they’re taken away promptly by a valet parking service.
A range of other parking tweaks - which reportedly won’t cut total on-street parking space in the area - have been suggested, a city councillor briefing heard. Final recommendations will go to a council hui this month.
A Trade Me report on the last quarter of 2024 shows Hamilton had three of the five ads that prompted the most applications.
Nationally, total job applications remained high, both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.
An ad for two retail assistant roles in Chartwell attracted 531 applicants in the December quarter, while 507 people applied for another retail assistant role there.
During the same period, 520 people responded to an ad for four warehouse picker/packers in Hamilton.
In a move to support cafes and restaurants, Hamilton City Council is recommending to change an annual fee for outdoor dining and signage to once every three years.
At today’s Community and Natural Environment Committee meeting
(18 February), the committee made a unanimous recommendation which means businesses who want to use the space outside their store for dining or signage will save time and money by only needing to apply every three years.
The permit process is to make sure there is balance between city vibrancy, customer experience, consistency of rules and accessibility for footpath users.
Committee Deputy Chair Anna Casey-Cox hopes this will encourage more places to offer outdoor dining.
“This is a small step to show that Council appreciates what these businesses do for our city and Hamiltonians. We hope to see even more businesses using outdoor dining and creating a real sense of atmosphere and buzz.”
Hamilton City Council is asking the community for feedback on a proposal to address a financial imbalance in alcohol licensing costs.
Currently, the fees set by legislation have not increased in more than 11 years and do not cover the full costs of licensing activities. As a result, ratepayers have been subsidising these costs by up to 29% and this is expected to grow year on year. Council is proposing to introduce an Alcohol Fees Bylaw that would reduce the ratepayer subsidy to 5%.
The building is owned by Primeproperty Group (PPG) and this week the company announced that work has begun to upgrade the office space from “somewhere between Grade B and C” to A Grade.
As the Waikato Regional Theatre slowly but surely takes shape in downtown Hamilton, passers-by suddenly have a burning question: What’s that big black box sitting on top of it for?
The massive box-shaped structure is currently 500 tonnes of structural steel that, when completed, will be home to the theatre’s fly tower. Which, of course, begs the question: What’s a fly tower?
An essential element of “proper” theatres, fly towers are effectively big lofts that sit over the stage and from which pieces of scenery are hung.
Twenty-six businesses had wins - some more than one - at the Wednesday evening event at 18 London Street.
Stark Properties is developing the building into versatile commercial spaces but, for the awards, Royal Lab turned it into a high-end jazz bar. Sultry notes from Joe Mac Band filled the sixth floor as attendees enjoyed 360-degree views of the city and the Waikato River.
With a record 137 entries in 2024, general manager Vanessa Williams of Hamilton Central Business Association said she felt incredibly excited about the evening of recognition and celebration.
“This event is a testament to the resilience and perseverance of our local businesses, and we are proud to play a part in celebrating them.”
A central Hamilton spot that’s been mostly vacant for years is earmarked for a six-storey development.Resource consent has been granted for a 20,000m² building next to Centre Place, at the corner of Ward and Victoria Street and Tainui Group says it’s talking to potential tenants.The site has spent years fenced off with Tainui branded boards and currently comprises an empty lot and the P&M plaza building, which will be removed in preparation for the new development.
Senior Sergeant Scott McKenzie said the survey is the first few step police are taking to develop a safety programme for the CBD. The initiative was prompted after stakeholders told police that they have seen a rise in antisocial behaviour, which was confirmed by the survey results.
A $100 million Pullman hotel development has been unveiled for Hamilton’s CBD, with work underway and an expected 2026 opening.The 191-bed hotel over 13 levels will involve a retro-fit of the current Mistry Centre, Hamilton’s tallest building at 42-48 Ward St and within the Centre Place shopping area.
The third office tower in Union Square, Hamilton’s newest central business precinct, is likely to get underway in the next six months.Located on a corner block that includes Anglesea, Hood and Alexandra streets, the multi-level development will eventually be made up of five builds, combining 23,000m2 of office space with a number of retail and community spaces including a wellness centre.
A Hamilton company is poised to spread around the globe after selling to a big international firm - and with the founders “too young to retire” yet.Aware Group, based in London St, Hamilton has been bought by Amsterdam business transformation partner, HSO.Brandon Hutcheson and Jourdan Templeton, now 32, set the company up eight years ago and their first customer was Microsoft.
After challenging times, Hamilton retailers hope interest rate cuts will bring then extra customers for Christmas.December has traditionally been a hot month for retail, with Stats New Zealand data showing two decades of card payment values consistently about 37% above the rest of the year.
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