Confidence builds at Elizabeth Towers

A sustained run of sales at Elizabeth Towers is reinforcing growing buyer confidence in Tauranga’s evolving city centre, with only a limited collection of premium residences now remaining available and the project’s signature penthouse set to be released to the market for the first time.

Positioned above the Thirty Eight Elizabeth mixed-use precinct, the completed development has become one of the defining residential addresses within Tauranga’s CBD regeneration, attracting downsizers, professionals and executives seeking a high-quality urban lifestyle at the centre of one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing regional economies.

Bayleys Tauranga Residential and Projects branch manager, Jon O’Connor, says recent sales reflect a shift in buyer behaviour as confidence in both the development and the wider city continues to strengthen.

“People aren’t simply buying an apartment,” he says. “They’re making a long-term decision about where they want to live and increasingly, that decision is being influenced by where Tauranga is heading rather than where it has been.

“The city centre is changing in a tangible way. As more public and private investment comes to fruition, buyers can clearly see the quality of place that’s emerging, and that’s giving people confidence to act.”

Elizabeth Towers forms the residential centrepiece of Thirty Eight Elizabeth, a landmark mixed-use development combining 96 apartments across twin towers with 23 garden villas and terrace homes. Retail and hospitality occupy the ground floor, including Farmers, Whitcoulls, Subway and a popular bar and grill, while residents enjoy secure access to an extensive suite of resort-style amenities.

These include a landscaped Sky Garden, residents’ lounge, private entertaining areas, Technogym fitness centre, 15-metre Italian-built swimming pool, spa, secure basement parking, private storage and high-speed lifts, creating an offering that rivals many international residential developments.

The remaining residences range from one-to-three bedrooms, with light-filled open-plan interiors, generous balconies, European porcelain kitchens, Fisher & Paykel appliances and elevated outlooks across Tauranga Harbour, Mt Maunganui and the Kaimai Ranges.

O’Connor says the development has resonated particularly strongly with buyers looking to simplify home ownership without compromising on quality, space or location.

“Many purchasers are coming from larger family homes, but they’re not looking to compromise. They still want generous living spaces, premium finishes and somewhere they can entertain family and friends.

“What they’re choosing to leave behind is maintenance, not the lifestyle.”

That proposition is becoming increasingly compelling as Tauranga enters a new phase of city-centre investment.

More than $1.5bn of public and private investment is planned or underway through the Tauranga CBD Blueprint, while circa $670 million of major projects are currently under construction, including Te Manawataki o Te Papa civic precinct, the new courthouse, premium office developments and additional residential projects. Together, they are reshaping how the city functions by attracting more workers, residents and visitors into the CBD each day.

Those investments sit alongside broader regional fundamentals that continue to underpin confidence. The Bay of Plenty’s population reached approximately 351,500 in 2025 and is projected to exceed half a million by the early 2050s, while Tauranga has doubled in size over the past three decades. Strong migration, a nationally significant freight and logistics sector, world-leading horticulture and expanding export industries continue to reinforce the region’s long-term economic outlook.

O’Connor says Elizabeth Towers is benefiting from that convergence of lifestyle investment and economic momentum. “Great residential developments become more valuable as the city around them improves.”

“That’s exactly what’s happening in Tauranga. The quality of the development hasn’t changed – but every new piece of surrounding investment strengthens the reasons people want to be here.”

With only a small number of residences remaining, Bayleys is also preparing to release what O’Connor describes as one of the development’s defining homes.

Positioned atop the tower, the three bedroom plus study penthouse spans 210sqm internally, with a further 160sqm (more or less) of wraparound terraces, with three and a half bathrooms, two secure car parks and expansive north-facing outdoor living that captures panoramic harbour, city and mountain views.

“The buyer for this home won’t be comparing it with other apartments – it is matchless,” O’Connor says. “They’re comparing it with some of Tauranga’s finest residences. What makes this home different is that it delivers the scale, privacy and entertaining capability of a substantial house, while placing everything the city has to offer at your doorstep.”