Victoria Park community gets first look at plans for new New World
24th September 2026
Members of the Victoria Park community had the opportunity to hear directly from the team behind the rebuild of New World Victoria Park tonight, at the first of two community drop-in sessions being held to share an update on the project.
The session gave local residents an opportunity to see the plans for the new store, ask questions and provide feedback as construction gets underway.
Foodstuffs North Island Head of Property Nick Hanson says, it was great to meet with members of the community in person and talk through the plans for the store's return.
“It was great to see such an engaged group of people come along tonight. There was a real mix of curiosity, and interest in what the new store will look like and what the redevelopment will mean for the local community,” Nick says.
“Being able to talk to people face-to-face and answer their questions is an important part of this project. We know people have been waiting a long time for their local New World to return, and we want to keep the community informed as the rebuild progresses.”
The rebuild reached a significant milestone this month, with resource consent approved and construction now underway. The current programme targets reopening the store in late 2027.
The new New World Victoria Park will be approximately 500 square metres larger than the previous store and has been designed with a focus on accessibility, sustainability and the needs of the growing inner-city community.
Plans include:
- A contemporary design inspired by the masonry and brick character of Freemans Bay and the surrounding neighbourhood.
- Extensive planting and landscaping to strengthen the connection with Victoria Park.
- A distinctive glulam timber structure referencing the mature tree canopy of the park and the New World lozenge.
- Improved accessibility and safer pedestrian and vehicle movements.
- A 179-space basement customer car park.
- A new concierge Click & Collect service.
- Rooftop solar generation and a sustainability-led building design targeting a four-star rating.
- Enhanced online fulfilment capability.
The redevelopment is also being informed by engagement with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, with Foodstuffs exploring opportunities to appropriately reflect the cultural history and significance of Waiatarau in the project.
“We're still early in building our relationship with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, and our focus is on listening and understanding what matters to them,” Nick says.
“We want the new development to acknowledge the history and significance of this place and reflect the mana of the area it sits within.”
Foodstuffs is also developing a Community Resilience Plan alongside the redevelopment, exploring how the Victoria Park site could support the local community during future disruption or emergencies.
A second community drop-in session will be held on Saturday 26 September from 9am to 10am at Grafton Cricket Club, giving further opportunity for local residents to view the plans and ask questions of the project team.
“We know there is a lot of interest in the rebuild, and these sessions are about keeping the conversation going,” Hanson says.
“Thank you to everyone who came along tonight, shared their questions and took the time to talk with us. We really value that engagement and look forward to continuing to work alongside the community as the rebuild progresses.”
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