| 65 DEVELOPMENT ICONIQ Group: 43 Roebuck Road This 18-unit ICONIQ Group development in Papakura is nearing completion. Environmental sustainability features prominently in ICONIQ’s vision for the future. The company has established a permanent carbon forest, offsetting the emissions created by its housing developments, thus showing a commitment to environmental responsibility within the construction sector. Current projects demonstrate the company’s momentum. A development on Gladstone Road in Gisborne is underway, featuring a three-level, walk-up apartment building with six, two-bedroom units and nine, two-bedroom terraced houses for a social housing provider. Designs are also underway for two major projects totalling 81 units – a 33-unit project for a social housing provider and a 48-unit development in partnership with a local iwi to deliver affordable rentals. Beyond Gisborne, projects include an 18-unit development nearing completion in Papakura, Auckland, a 21-lot development under construction in Whangārei, and a 10-unit project in Wairoa with an iwi partner. The company’s mission statement encapsulates its holistic approach. “At ICONIQ Group, we are committed to fighting homelessness, helping communities and lifting people up through building high volumes of quality homes, using local workers, in areas of greatest need. “We have lot more projects coming, with around 200 more units in the pipeline.” Passionate about social housing Steve Palmer, the Managing Director of East Tamaki based Hi-Tec Property Developments says he was born into the construction industry, and it was only natural that he should make it his life. “My father was a drain layer and I was born digging holes and driving diggers — so construction has been my life both here and Australia.” The development of high-quality social housing has long been a passion for Steve, and a key driver for establishing Hi-Tec Property Developments in 2017, supported by a team that included two of his sons and a couple of other keen young men. “One of my sons had already completed his apprenticeship and the other was part way through, so I brought everybody through their apprenticeships. We were approached by a couple of the larger developers, including Constructa Ltd, who contract directly to Kāinga Ora. We started out doing carpentry and concrete slabs and then moved on to civil works.” While Hi-Tec Property Developments has undertaken the occasional private project, the company is predominantly contracted to companies like Constructa and IQONIQ Group for social housing projects. “I’m passionate about social housing. We have a need for warm, healthy, high-quality social housing in this country, and I feel we have fallen behind a little bit, though we are catching up. Ninety percent of the social housing projects we undertake are redevelopments of quarter acre sections that have old social housing on them that are replaced with modern medium density housing of di erent typologies.” The range of properties include 3-level apartment blocks that contain six, nine or twelve apartments. There are standalone homes with varying bedroom con igurations, duplexes where two homes are joined together but separated by an inter-tenancy wall, and a series of town houses in a group. “We undertake everything from the site cut through to attaching the doorhandle, and cover most aspects in-house. The developers will often have their own subtrades who we work in with.” Hi-Tec Property Developments established its relationship with ICONIQ Group two years ago, a relationship that has enabled Steve and his team to extent their reach into other regions in the North Island. Drilling down into the success of the company he founded seven years ago, Steve says it is all about the team around him and their loyalty. “The young people who have been through their apprenticeship with me have become my Project Managers, and General Manager. Some have become shareholders. They’re the driving force behind the business. Bringing those younger people through has been key, and having an open mind to new technology, and not having that dinosaur mindset.” Hi-Tec Property Developments Limited are a New Zealand owned company, with our office in Auckland, offering Build, Design, Renovation/Extension and Project Management Services nationwide. From small to multi-million dollar projects, be it commercial or residential, our highly motivated and professional staff excel at building projects of every scale and type, and are capable of delivering projects of all sizes and specifications throughout the North Island. www.hi-tec.co.nz accounts@hi-tec.co.nz
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