Property developer Nigel McKenna’s latest project on Auckland’s waterfront is to be officially released today. Mayor Christine Fletcher will launch what Mr McKenna calls “a new standard for residential building in New Zealand”.
The $30 million project on the Viaduct Basin is to include retail outlets on the ground floor and 68 one-, two- and three- bedroom units. Mr McKenna is also involved in several other commercial and residential projects on the harbor, including the neighbouring development of Watermark Plaza in partnership with Greg Wilkinson and with financial backing from Blue Star’s Eric Watson. The $52 million Watermark Plaza will be run by serviced apartment operator Mirvac, which is behind the Quay West apartment building.
Mr McKenna also has an interest in the redevelopment of Auckland’s waterfront markets. The chance to take part in Auckland’s waterfront was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, he said.
“Twelve months ago, people were saying it would never happen. Now we’ve got all these projects under way, with most scheduled to be completed in time for the America’s Cup.”
Earlier another residential development – ‘The Avenue’ – was announced by Mr McKenna’s Melview Developments. That project takes the number of residential units he has under construction in the Auckland region to around 300. In total, Melview now has developments in excess of $100 million under construction.
The $16.5 million project in Albany – a mixture of freestanding homes and townhouses – will eventually comprise 75 units, with stage one planned for completion in December. Mr McKenna said the bush and creek setting was unique and a lot of effort had gone into maintaining and utilising the local environment. “It’s rare to find such a beautiful setting to live in, less than 10 minutes’ walk to the university, the village and Albany’s new retail centre,” he said.
The complex includes a communal recreation centre, gymnasium and swimming pool, a video security system and a live-in estate manager. The three- and four-bedroom homes are selling for between $199,500 and $268,000. Some of his other developments are the 110-unit housing project on The Strand and the 14-storey apartment building on Scotia Pl, overlooking Myers Park. Mr McKenna’s project management company, Promanco Kenman, is involved in the Metropolis apartment development and a major refurbishment of four older buildings around Whitcoulls, in Queen St.
Another major refurbishment of a large blue-chip Queen St premises is also planned but Mr McKenna, who has been active in the Wellington project management and property market since 1987 and in Auckland since the early 1990s, has focused his residential developments at the lower price end of the market.
“Good buildings are about good design and good design doesn’t have to cost more money,” he said. “Livability is a key concept, concentrating on natural light, space, storage, good materials and acoustics. The expensive market is a small market,” Mr McKenna said.
He described his speciality as developing “realistically priced” residential projects.
Mr McKenna has recently returned from a trip to Europe and the Mediterranean and believes New Zealand will tend towards more medium-density housing. Population growth, particularly in the Auckland region, would maintain residential development in the long term, he said. Another factor promoting this kind of housing was that most people were not prepared to move to the suburbs required to maintain the traditional quarter-acre section size, Mr McKenna said.
