DHB rebuild clears foot traffic for local cafes

Completion of the Waikato District Health Board building in central Hamilton cannot come soon enough for surrounding business owners. 

Nearby cafes have had to deal with a decline in business since Farmers moved from the site at the corner of Alexandra and Collingwood Streets into CentrePlace in 2013.

Without the same steady foot traffic in the café-packed area, business has been slower, said Maline Kong, a worker at the Collingwood Bakery, opposite the construction site.

“[We] have lost regulars…people don’t walk this way,” said Kong.

She said that the construction site was “very noisy”.  

However, they looked forward to the DHB employees buying their food once the building was reopened.

The Sugar Plum bakery, which opened for business after Farmers moved out, is happy with sales despite the quietness of the area. 

This is helped by taking orders for events online, said owner Natalie Bell.

Bell said there are already some perks to the rebuild, with the construction workers regularly “popping in for a cupcake after work”.

The rebuild is well under way and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Waikato DHB chief executive Dr Nigel Murray told livenews.co.nz the building’s reopening will “give a big boost to the vibrancy of the city”.

The DHB plans to move 700 employees into the building, with a fixed term of 12 years.

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