Kings wharf is the preferred site for a 12-thousand seat indoor arena.
It's a waterfront area badly affected by the 2016 Kaikoura quake, with Statistics House having to be bowled and the BNZ building following suit.
Justin Lester says if the arena goes ahead, base isolators will be used to prevent it from a similar fate.
He says that's what's been used for Te Papa and the new PWC building on the waterfront.