File ref: IRC-5844
24 February 2024
Chris McCashin
[FYI request #25357 email]
Tēnā koe Mr McCashin,
Tākina Events Centre
Thank you for your request made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
(the Act), received on 9 January 2024. You requested the fol owing information:
1. Monthly Revenue & Expenses for July 2023 - December 2023
2. Final Build Cost
3. Total Debt on Building
4. Who the debt is held with
5. Total interest attributed to the debt on the building
As confirmed in our email to you on the 9th of February 2024, Wellington City Council has granted your
request for information and your patience while we gathered this information is appreciated.
Please find our response below.
Background Information
Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre was built to enable Wellington to attract international
and domestic conferences for the benefit of the city, region, and country and to provide a place from which
to share stories with the nation.
Opened in June 2023, Tākina is in its infancy. The original budgets were based on the best assumptions
around operating costs and revenues for a building of this nature.
Over half of the expenditure to date is fixed building ownership costs which include rates, insurance,
depreciation, interest, and organisational allocations. The convention business is outsourced, meaning the
revenue and expenditure of that aspect of the business are not reflected in our accounts (and the figures
below).
All parties involved are working hard to deliver economic benefits to the city. Two-thirds of the cost of Tākina
is funded through the Downtown Levy and commercial sector share of the General Rate. Also note that in
the first six months of operations there has been an estimated $24million economic return to the community.
Question 1 - Monthly Revenue and Expenses
The fol owing table provides the monthly revenue and expenses for Tākina between July - December 2023:
Jul-23
Aug-23
Sept-23
Oct-23
Nov-23
Dec-23
Operating Revenue
30,271
251,951
605,833
1,119,535 413,976
394,754
Operating Expenses
629,082
261,676
37,273
1,028,133 504,030
854,137
-598,811 -9,725
568,561
91,402
-90,053
-459,383
Net Expenditure
Questions 2 to 5 - Build Cost and Debt
Final Building cost
$170.86 Mil ion
Total Debt on the building
We have drawn down $180m in total for the
Tākina build*
Who the debt is held with
The debt is held with the New Zealand Local
Government Funding Agency Limited (LGFA)
Total interest attributed to the debt on the
interest attributed to debt for Jul 23-Dec 23 is
building
$1.8m
Please note, with respect to the total debt on the building, this relates to debt held with LGFA and includes
some of the land purchase, but does not include the accumulated depreciation charged, and treated as
debt repayments for interest calculation purposes. Therefore, the actual outstanding debt attributed to
Tākina will be lower.
Right of review
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to
investigate the Council’s decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website,
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Please note, we may proactively release our response to your request with your personal information
removed.
Thank you again for your request,
Kind regards
Chelsea McHugh
Senior Advisor Official Information
Wellington City Council
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