86 | LIFESTYLE Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust Partnership continues to flourish Karen Phelps Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust Chairman, Liz Mellish and Metlifecare CEO Earl Gasparich. Photo: Kevin Bills Media It’s a unique business partnership that sees a Maori trust partnering with an international business and now Metlifecare Palmerston North Villas is expanding. The joint venture between Metlifecare and Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust has been successful for over 20 years since the village was first established and now 43 new two-bedroom, one-level villas have just been launched to the market. Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust Chairman, Liz Mellish says that interest has been strong due to the location of the villas, close to the central city between Ngata and Carroll Streets, and the good reputation the village has. “Metlifecare and Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust have been in partnership for more than twenty years and we are delighted to be working together to bring this exciting new development to the local community. “As responsible landowners we feel that this Te Āti Awa Maori partnership with Metlifecare is a wonderful example of business leading the way forward as partners. We believe in building our businesses on trust and people love the feeling of how we work together,” she says. Liz believes it’s a key point of difference for the village as the Trust puts manaakitanga (or ‘taking care of’) at the forefront. “It’s about making our residents feel at home. The Trust live and breathe manaakitanga every day in our lives.” Metlifecare CEO Earl Gasparich says Metlifecare has a strong focus on collaborating with the communities where it has new developments being built and it has also worked closely with the Trust to look at opportunities to integrate culturally sensitive design into the new development. Liz says that residents of the new Metlifecare Palmerston North Villas release will receive all of the benefits of being part of a friendly and well-established village community. Palmerston North Village is set amongst established gardens and Liz says it has a wonderful sense of community and companionship. It includes independent living villas and chalets with the added reassurance of being linked to a 24-hour emergency call system. For residents after additional services, such as cleaning, laundry, meals and personal care services, serviced apartments offer tailor made packages to suit. Should needs change both rest home and residential hospital level care is offered on-site. The village also includes a café and community centre, hairdressing salon, inter-denominational chapel, library and lounge, outdoor living and BBQ area, swimming pool and spa. The village is also near to Crest Hospital and Palmerston North hospital and shops, cafes, restaurants, galleries and many other attractions that the city has to offer. The project is being built by local firm Humphries Construction, a Manawatu company with a reputation as a prominent and reliable building company within the community. Strong leadership of a team with diverse skills has resulted in an extensive portfolio of successful builds under its belt. Liz says it is important to the Trust to use local contractors on projects where possible. One of Humphries Construction’s owners and company contracts manager Kane Barry says managing the supply chain issues is expected to be the biggest challenge on the project. Materials have been ordered before “As responsible landowners we feel that this Te Āti Awa Maori partnership with Metlifecare is a wonderful example of business leading the way forward as partners.“ project commencement and it will now be a matter of working around any timeframe issues that may crop up in the global Covid-19 environment. Civil construction has begun and Humphries Construction is about to start building the villas. Kane says the project will take around two years in total and involve around 50 people on site at peak. “It’s a great project and we’re looking forward to really getting stuck into it after so many hold ups with Covid-19,” says Kane noting the company first became involved with the Trust in the project before the first lockdown in 2020. to page 88 RESIDENTIAL | COMMERCIAL | DEVELOPMENT PROUDLYWORKING PALMERSTON NORTH MAORI RESERVE TRUST 06 952 3584 | info@humphries.kiwi | 8 Connolly Place, P.N. | www.humphries.kiwi
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