Diggers down south, adding to busy Auckland earthworks seaso

Diggers down south, adding to busy Auckland earthworks season

Monday, 26 October 2015

Diggers now working in the large and recently launched Belmont Development residential subdivision on the western side of Pukekohe only add to what could be the busiest earthworks season Auckland has ever seen, says property financier James Kellow.

“The earthworks season traditionally starts in October and I predict this forthcoming season will be amongst the busiest for Auckland in terms of actual sections created. This is of course helped by the fact that developers are now starting to roll out many of the 97 Special Housing Areas (SHAs) that have been approved around the Auckland region over the past two years,” says Mr Kellow.

The director of New Zealand Mortgages & Securities says his company has approved funding for nearly half of the 700 residential sites planned for Pukekohe’s Jutland Road area which has been designated as a SHA by the Government and Auckland Council.

“NZMS is very excited with our involvement in the Belmont Development. We’ve approved funding for 300 of the SHA sites so far and we’ll probably do more. There’s increasing confidence in and around developments in Pukekohe which is totally understandable. Let’s not forget that Pukekohe is one of Auckland’s most prosperous and positive rural towns that will more than double in population to 50,000 residents by 2040,” says Mr Kellow.

He says Belmont is one of the most eagerly anticipated residential developments in the southern part of Auckland at the moment.

“What’s adding to its appeal is not only nearby Pukekohe but the fact that Auckland Council has also approved a comprehensive structure plan for the Belmont SHA. This will see a new primary school, shopping centre and recreational facilities such as parks and cycleways delivered.”

Mr Kellow says being an SHA means the homes in the Belmont Development will need to be a minimum of a 6 Homestar rating and 10 percent of the subdivision has to be made available for affordable homes – which good news for local first-home buyers.

“This has been 10 years in the making which has seen a core group of long-standing local landowners coming together to deliver the best possible outcome for the Pukekohe area.

“Instrumental in bringing it to launch include former Franklin Mayor Mark Ball, planning expert Hamish Firth of MHG, Key2 Real Estate and subdivision developer Gary Gordon of Legacy Property.”

Gary Gordon says: “We have been surprised by the pent up demand in Pukekohe. Builders, home owners and investors have be quick to secure sites in Belmont with 90% already presold.”

“They are all keen to be moving into a new suburb as soon as possible. Earthworks on the first stage have started and sections will be delivered as early as May 2016,” says Mr Gordon.

The first sections at the Belmont Development are set to receive titles in mid-2016.

Hamish Firth, director of the boutique planning company MHG, managed the resource consent process: “The process has been assisted greatly by the SHA provisions and the specialist Council team in the Housing Project Office that managed the processing of the applications.

“The council team were proactive in their advice and enhanced the overall project. Having a quality developer and an experienced consultant project team ensured the complex resource consent and engineering applications were in line with council expectations. The project has been a pleasure to work on. It took a quarter of the time it would have if the existing council processes had been in place,” says Mr Firth.

James Kellow says other Legacy Property residential developments NZMS is involved in include 43 Brown Street in Ponsonby and the Aria Apartments, 11 Vinegar Lane, Ponsonby – both described as stunning high-end boutique complexes.

“It’s a really exciting time to be in and around residential developments in Auckland after some very quiet years following the Global Financial Crisis. Significant land and sites are now being opened up with building consents, particularly for new apartments, well on the rise.

“The difference this time is there is a much bigger focus from the council, the development sector and the consumer to ensure greater quality and sustainability is delivered in our new built environments and communities. That has been a long time coming. On top of pace, it’s great to also see quality is now being demanded and delivered,” says Mr Kellow.

ENDS

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