Originally published in Waikato Times, Monday 19 January 2026.
By Mike Mather.
Hamilton mayor Tim Macindoe and deputy mayor Geoff Taylor are taking a high-level view of the central city’s future. PHOTO: Kelly Hodel / WAIKATO TIMES.
Downtown Hamilton is about to be transformed by the BNZ Theatre, the city’s civic leaders say - and it will be up to landlords and property owners to play their part.
In a frank discussion with the Waikato Times, Hamilton mayor Tim Macindoe and deputy mayor Geoff Taylor said they were thrilled with the quality of the new theatre - and were expecting a snowball effect of quality development to result.
Part of that effect was the arrival of the new Pullman and, later, the Templeton hotels in the central city, as well as the ongoing development of the Union Square office and retail development in Alexandra St.
The end result will be a precinct of high quality streetscapes - a vibrant “circuit” that will flow from the theatre, down Hood St, along Alexandra St and back up to Victoria St.
The city council would be doing its part with “a major do-up” of Alexandra St in September and October, to coincide with the completion of Union Square, and make that part of the link a more people-friendly space than it currently is.
“It was not that long ago that I had a business acquaintance who had lived all his life in Hamilton tell me that he was ashamed of that end of town,” said Macindoe.
Things are looking up for central Hamilton, say Tim Macindoe and Geoff Taylor. PHOTO: Kelly Hodel / WAIKATO TIMES.
“When you look at it, it is easy to see which parts of it are really shabby ... and where it could do with some smartening up.
“We are now about to have a theatre that many have said will be the best in New Zealand, or even, as some have speculated, the best in the Southern Hemisphere.
“That may or may not be true, but almost every aspect of the theatre has the wow factor to it. We want to have a surrounding area that also has the wow factor ... A place where there is a constant buzz, from lots of people, all of the time.”
Taylor said more people living and co-existing in the central city was inevitable. It would be facilitated, in part, by a $150 million boost from the Government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund for accommodation intensification in the CBD.
“There are going to be thousands more people living down here. Once you get that critical mass of people, it will start to feel safer than it currently is - a much nicer place to be.”
However, “there has got to be an onus on the landlords to do their bit,” said Taylor. “A lot of the properties in that part of the city are still looking pretty shabby. They have an absolute jewel down there now, and they really need to lift their game.”
Taylor acknowledged the council also needed to do more to keep parts of the central city “cleaner and better maintained than it has been in recent years”.
“If the big corporates are coming along and spending incredible amounts of money, that really tells you something ... We absolutely have to play our part.”
Taylor said a recent increase in the police numbers patrolling in the central city was also having a positive effect.
Macindoe and Taylor both pointed to Made - the food-oriented retail centre incorporating numerous artisan eateries, fresh produce, and creative spaces - in Hamilton East as an example of what will happen once the theatre opens.
“That area of Grey St is really thriving now,” said Taylor. “If you have something good, then stuff starts to happen around it. That’s going to happen with the theatre.”