Business North October 2021

| 81 DEVELOPMENT Avant Group/ McConnell Property Kōtuitui’s architectural design and distinctive use of hard wearing materials is a fresh new urban look and feel for downtown Manukau City. Urgent need for ‘live zoned’ land Karen Phelps Matt Anderson: O ne of the biggest issues facing Auck- land as it tackles the housing crisis is availability of live zoned land, says McConnell Property senior development man- ager Matt Anderson. The company focuses on sourcing and developing land, including civil works and infrastructure, ready for builders to construct homes on. Mainly concentrating on Auckland, this has seen McConnell Property increasingly looking to the outskirts of the city where larg- er tracts of land are available. Matt says that developers invariably follow behind public infrastructure development when looking for their next project. The Auckland Unitary Plan identifies approximate- ly 15,000 hectares of rural land for future urbanisation with the potential to accommo- date approximately 137,000 dwellings and this is where some developers are looking, says Matt. He believes that developers, local and cen- tral government must work in partnership. “The Auckland plan sets the strategic direction on how growth will be accommodat- ed and identifies a programme to sequence future urban land over 30 years to assist the ongoing supply of greenfield land for devel- opment. “The strategy is a long term and proactive approach to delivering land that is ‘ready to go’ in these future urban areas and is linked to to page 82 tinctive use of hard wearing materials is a fresh new urban look and feel for downtown Manukau City, says Mathew. Stage one of the project won a gold award at the 2021 Com- mercial Project Awards. Other project partners included council-con- trolled organisation Panuku Development Auckland, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and Kāinga Ora. The project was designed by award winning Crosson Architects, designers of a Coroman- del bach rated one of the top six houses in the world in the 2010 World Architecture News Awards. Colliers worked alongside Te Ākitai Waiohua and Avant to assist with project de- sign and bringing the project to market. Mathew says a passion for building good quality homes has underpinned the team. “Kōtuitui has shown that if we work hard and focus on the right things with the right construction and design partners we can build good quality homes that are great value.” The government has identified Manukau as a regional town centre, meaning it will benefit from continued investment in infrastructure, transforming the area and creating an even more desirable place to live. A major change programme is being led by Panuku Devel- opment Auckland with 600ha of Manukau Central and Wiri undergoing regeneration. Improvements include the new Manukau train and bus terminals, revitalisation of Hayman Park and Puhinui Stream, as well as rejuve- nation of the town centre to include a raft of new shops, eateries and community facilities centred around Manukau Plaza. “The new train station and bus interchange easily connects locals to Auckland central, while development at Puhinui and future Rapid Transit plans will see Manukau further joined up to Britomart, Botany Town Centre and the Airport,” says Mathew. Avant specialises in strategic business man- agement, property development and project completion. Mathew says the aim of Avant is to produce quality developments that are innovative and inspiring, yet culturally and environmentally considerate while challenging traditional thinking. “Assisting with transforming neighbour- hoods is the passion and focus.” the 30-year Infrastructure Plan. But with no in- frastructure or roading yet developers need to seek either a private plan change or wait until it is live-zoned for residential development. It’s all about infrastructure being in place to ser- vice the development. There needs to be huge investment in fast tracking more Future Urban Land to meet demand for housing.” McConnell Property is currently working on several projects, which will help to meet demand. CIVIL ENGINEERING • Subdivision & Land Development • Commercial & Industrial • Schools • Resource Consents • Construction Management • Planning Our Services Include: STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING • Multi-Storey Structures • Earthquake Engineering • Technical Reports • Peer Reviews • Specialist Seismic Analysis • Forensic Engineering www.doddcivil.co.nz Ph: 09 296 5543 admin@doddcivil.co.nz Proud to support McConnell Property Ltd