UDINZ Summer Site Tour: Long Bay masterplanned development incorporating the "Elementum", "Light Box" and "Kahu" offerings.

A fabulous extended tour yesterday of three of Templeton’s offerings at Long Bay: Elementum, Kahu and Lightbox after an initial introduction from Nigel McKenna in one of their “live work” offerings (with a street facing multi use space) currently serving as a site office.

The verticality and level of polish pleasantly surprised some in the group given the coastal location, and in the case of Elementum and Kahu, delivered on a walkable vision too, being in close proximity to and very well connected with the village centre, nearby local amenity and transport connections back to the northern busway.

At Elementum we saw two of the apartments (a one bed and a two bed) in the three level walk up building (some but not all of the seperate buildings that make up Elementum have lifts) and one of the townhouses. High quality finishes, air flow through, good outdoor spaces and elevated views over the surrounding area and the beautiful landscaped central courtyards and communal gardens. The dual access on the townhouses both onto the street and a rear laneway was well executed, the elevation enabling good visual connection to the internal resident courtyard. What we were seeing was comparatively hot off the press with PC on the last Elementum building received only last week.

The stacked concept of Kahu (developed earlier) found favour comprising 5 levels with a 2 level townhouse the bottom and 3 level townhouse on top both accessible from a central courtyard area over underground carpark’s. Of the 42 units in total, only one unit remains unoccupied. The complex works well to optimise and work with the contours of the land.

Both Elementum and Kahu use white brick broken by darker accents. Some discussion too of the apron treatment horizontally bisecting the building at intervals and giving a grounded feeling from inside the apartment looking out as it sat proud of the vertical plane.

A walk away, up and over the hill, to Light Box a 21 terrace offering - 3 blocks of 7 with a mix of 3 and 4 beds with double frontage to both a park and road. Novel treatment using a multi level internal glazed atrium planted with a deciduous tree and providing a private space right in the centre of the building for residents with views onto it from living areas and a study/bedroom on the upper floor and admitting natural light right into the centre of the building. The contours of the land again used with garaging on the lower road and a front door opening off a pedestrian path on the park with some outdoor living too there dropped down slightly for privacy. Elevated views out from the upper levels to the sea and over the adjacent park area.

After the tour some of those in attendance returned to the Long Bay Surf club bar in the town centre area for a drink and further conversation before heading home. Thank you to Templeton Group (New Zealand) for generously hosting that and the tour itself.

#udinzsummersitetourseries

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Designing the Streetscape: The challenge of fitting everything in.

With thanks to all those who joined us last Friday at an event jointly hosted by Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ, and member, Auckland Transport entitled Designing the Streetscape: The challenge of fitting everything in.

The panel Included Cathy Bebelman of Auckland Transport (who also delivered slides prepared by colleague Chris Beasley sadly called away), Cormac Tague from Templeton Group (New Zealand) and Mark Iszard from Healthy Waters at Auckland Council (accompanied by a group of his parks team colleagues). A remarkable level of attendance given the uncharitable weather and a variety of interests represented in the room across developers and various consultants. We'd originally intended to do breakout groups, but the level of interest (we sold out twice!) and size of the group meant we had to have introductory remarks followed by a patai session involving the group as a whole. Thanks to those who also contributed from the audience.

A palpable frustration in the room around what solutions would and wouldn’t be approved and a suggestion that there were differing approaches across the council family. Some also expressing concern about how transparently the change from to raingardens and devices previously accepted to the new direction had been signaled, with guidance apparently conflicting. The safety of some of the devices to members of the public also highlighted. The new approach is to have the berm also play host to vegetation and trees (to mitigate heat island effects and help achieve the Ngahere strategy) as well as performing a (lesser) role with stormwater management (lower catchment wetland areas now back in favour again). The intention is to absorb rainwater and allow it to recharge the water table with tree roots slowing the flow. Several in the room interested in the approval pathway for proprietary devices (explained by Marketing) and permeable pavement options. Maintenance of devices over the life cycle and procurement restrictions around access to/cost of parts articulated. Also a concession that well designed permeability at the berm can ameliorate stormwater concerns and reduce wetland size (an incursion otherwise into developable land on site and impacting development feasibility where it changes). An acceptance too that communication could be improved and a subscription service suggested to keep everyone in the loop. The feeling was a further session may be required to tease out the best solutions…. Watch this space!

With thanks again to AT for hosting and Harrison Grierson for kindly picking up responsibility for feeding the troops.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Visibility Series: Demand Driven Trends with Bayleys

With thanks to the Bayleys Real Estate team for collaborating on yesterday evenings Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Visibility Series event on "Demand Driven Trends"

In a continuously evolving property landscape, it's important new housing typologies, amenities and features reflect the needs of an ever-changing market. Following recent regulatory changes, the immigration landscape and a reduction in building consent numbers, upwards pressure on housing is expected to fuel the development sector and a greater variety of product typology.

We heard from Suzie Wigglesworth, National Director – Residential Projects, Bayleys, Chris Farhi MRICS, Bayleys Head of Insights, Data & Consulting and Gavin Lloyd, General Manager of Residential Projects and somewhat of an expert on the apartment typology.

Inflation is back on target, interest rates are reducing and migration gains are slowing. While new listing volumes are at normal levels the total homes for sale is high. Surprisingly good monthly volumes in spite of that which are substantially up on 2020 lows. Interesting insights on townhouse developments with still a strong preference for grounded product - interesting to hear the square grounded rather than the rectangular vertical favoured for higher end product, but quality over all still a strong differentiator. The South, whether Auckland's southern corridor or Queenstown's south (including as far south as Kingston!) attracting good interest on the land side. Knowing your buyer market remains key. Several mentions of downsizers in premier city fringe suburbs wishing to remain in area and amenable to substantial duplex offerings with enough room for grandchildren but less grounds to care for. Still substantial dwellings in their own right.

On the premier apartment side branded offerings an emerging trend and differentiated innovative parking offerings. The 2-2.5 bed typology still the best performer, with addition of a guest WC enhancing saleability.

Bayleys kindly supplied attendees with a copy of their latest New Build townhouse report.

Thanks too to Jamie Graham for his work in pulling the event together with us.

#udinzvisibilityseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Webinar: Update on Fast-Track Consenting with Bell Gully

With thanks to presenters Natasha Garvan and Laura Lincoln and those who took time out to attend yesterday’s webinar with Bell Gully updating attendees on the Fast Track approval process and how it interrelates with the rest of the coalition governments’ reform program. Some great questions too during the Q&A.

Access to the recording of the session is available available via our UDINZ #SubUrbDev subscription page for a fee (discounted access for UDINZ members).

During the session we shared links to some of our recent Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ advocacy work our:

📍Feedback on the Public Work Act Reform accessible HERE.
📍Our Submission on the RM (Consenting and other system changes) Bill accessible HERE.
📍Our submission to Infracom late last year on its plan accessible HERE.
📍Our original Fast-Track Approvals Bill submission HERE.

Generally speaking, this type of work by UDINZ is available on the Research and Resources section of our website.

We also attach a link to the portal where fast track approval referred projects can be accessed here: https://lnkd.in/gEZgcyDc

And the old portal for the residual Covid recovery and NBE fast track pathways https://lnkd.in/gKkZ_zwU

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Kenepuru Landing

A great Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site tour yesterday on a typical autumn Wellington afternoon for our members in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Attendees enjoyed a presentation and walking tour of the progress Toa Developments are making at Kenepuru Landing, Porirua.

Alan Blundell from Toa Developments lead us through the evolving progress they are making on transforming a former hospital site into a new residential neighbourhood and community. 60 hectares of what was once part of the Kenepuru Hospital is progressing well with potentially another 10 or so years of development ahead. The completed stages include a Summerset retirement village and an evolving mix of houses, from stand- alones to more recent terrace style homes.

Recent works include a land subdivision that is just being released to market. As market conditions have evolved in recent times, TOA have shown a nimbleness and adaptability to take a long term vision and strategic approach to focus on the community components that will help this neighbourhood thrive. Their current design phase workings include a community-centric superette, early childhood centre, and proposed apartment-style intensification. Alan mentioned the value of the recent UDINZ Delegation to Melbourne attributing to it the inspiration for injecting more community- focused facilities to create a true heart within this development. We also heard about the wide range of infrastructure and landscaping embedded in the design, including wetlands and water storage tanks.

Alan spoke articulately about the nuances of carefully managing the consenting process of their stages to enable flexibility as both market and political cycles influence the possibilities.

Thank you again to Alan and the TOA team for sharing and facilitating insightful conversation and shared learnings. Being on site gave us a real sense of the scale of the project and commitment of the team. Congratulations on both your vision and your progress to date.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: New Brighton, Ōtautahi Christchurch

A perfectly timed tour for Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Members to hear about the momentum of New Brighton's urban regeneration, with ground-breaking mixed tenure housing development, Te Pākau Maru by Kāinga Maha (almost completed).

We heard about the thoughtful community integration and urban design of Te Pākau Maru that was an NZGBC 7 Homestar designed development with 63 homes across 3 stages ( 1, 2, 3 & 4 bedroom typologies) designed with coastal stormwater management and accessibility requirements in mind.

Attendees received an update on New Brighton Mall Regeneration Programme around the Village Green and Pierside.

The New Brighton Centre Master Plan aims to re-establish the centre as the heart of the community and become the key activity centre for the eastern suburbs. A revitalised, vibrant centre will attract people to 'live, work and play' in New Brighton.

‘Pierside', is intended to be the Christchurch beachside suburb's new hospitality, retail, market, and entertainment hub. Martini Investments is involved in upgrading 12 buildings at the eastern end of Brighton Mall. Plans also including leasing out 1000sq m of largely vacant land to create a new village-style community space as the hub's centrepiece.

Thank you to Rachael Shiels (Placemaking and Engagement Advisor within ChristchurchNZ’s Urban Development Team), Paula Koller (the Development Manager at Kāinga Maha) and Lin Klenner (Chair of the @Greater New Brighton Charitable Trust) for taking us on the tour.

The attendees gathered post event for some networking and further discussion at “The Burger Joint” with hospitality kindly provided by Kāinga Maha.

We look forward to organising another tour towards the end of the year to examine further what has been achieved with this exciting urban regeneration. Watch this space!

#LifeisbetterbytheSea
#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Kaweka, Mt Albert

A great visit yesterday afternoon to Kaweka, a 44 unit, 3 level, timber- framed walk up offering BTR apartments and studios. The complex is well situated on New North Road in Mt Albert, a 10 minute walk to Mt Albert Train Station and well serviced by several bus routes.

The tour was kindly conducted and hosted by Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member New Ground Capital which has developed the complex on behalf of Hāpai Housing.

A significant consideration during development was volcanic rock formations on site that were eventually retained and incorporated into the communal garden and barbecue area that provides opportunity for onsite kai for residents. The name of the development was gifted by a local kaumātua and references a ridgeline of the local maunga Ōwairaka.

The complex includes 2 bed, 1 beds and studio units (some with study nooks). Strong sustainability credentials with the development achieving an NZGBC Homestar 7 rating with excellent insulation, glazing etc. A Solar array provides hot water for the entire complex (no individual HWC) and usage of water, Wi-Fi and electric charging of vehicles and bikes are all handled through the integrated proprietorial New Ground “MyLiving” app. This app enables residents to create forums and clubs, chat with neighbours, and communicate directly with their Community Manager, fostering a connected and engaged community. Fobs and keyless electronic access to apartments and communal facilities like the bike storage area and mail room provide a modern way of living.

Learnings from a recent Glen Innes development by New Ground informed design decisions, function, and appliance choices.

In partnership with Ka Uruora, Kaweka supports affordable rental outcomes for iwi whanau through the Ka Uruora rental rebate, and has a range of market offerings also.

Stunning on site art and carvings, stylish cladding decisions and planting add character and personality to the building and wider site. The vivid fence painting references contour lines of the nearby maunga and also local transport links (road and rail). The pods reference the people and families living and growing in these stunning homes.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ International Women’s Day Breakfasts: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch

Happy International Women's Day to all of our members, affiliates and friends of the organisation!!

We celebrated yesterday, on Friday 7 March, at a series of regional networking breakfasts in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ is all about bringing industry together for better connection, collaboration and community. These events were another chance to connect our Urban Development community up, celebrate the contributions we all respectively make to better outcomes and strengthen relationships and understanding across the sector.

With thanks to the staff at the following venues across the motu who were responsible for the meals and service provided:

▶ Winona Forever, Parnell in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland

▶ Prefab, Te Aro, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington

▶ Child Sister, CBD in Ōtautahi Christchurch Breakfast

#internationalwomensday
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#Auckland #Wellington #Christchurch

To view photos of the event click HERE.

The Urban Renewal: Adelaide Road, a case study on Brownfields Redevelopment

Our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ event “The Urban Renewal: Adelaide Road, a case study on Brownfields Redevelopment” held on 6 March was of interest to a range of people including the local community, housing advocates, central and local government representatives, architects, engineering firms, developers, media and urban planners - with a total of 45 people in attendance.

Held at Whakamaru, the four speakers included;

▶ Dr Richard Norman, a retired academic with an interest in urbanism also on the UDINZ Wellington Chapter Committee,
▶ adam perkins, AICP, Wellington City Council
▶ Ian Cassels, Director of The Wellington Company
▶ Rev. Murray Edridge, Wellington City Missioner.

They represented a range of perspectives all giving informative presentations.

Q&A began with attendees discussing among themselves what they had heard and agreeing questions for the panel. Some of the following questions were proposed and put to the panelists:

▶ What would generate development in the Adelaide Road corridor?
▶ Adelaide Road is a bit of a through road – how do we encourage people to stay/sit/linger?
▶ Where could we fit more green spaces?
▶ How do we build a “community” in Adelaide Road?
▶ Would an Urban Development Agency with compulsory purchasing powers work for Adelaide Road – particularly given the amount of vacant and underdeveloped land in the area?
▶ Is there enough infrastructure to support development?
▶ What role do or could Development Contributions (and now levies!) play in development?

Thank you to our UDINZ National Board member & UDINZ Wellington Committee Member Kim Kelly for facilitating the discussion and MCing the event.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Pāremoremo House

On Thursday 27 February a small group of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ members were fortunate to tour an award winning 3D printed house at Pāremoremo. Constructed using 3D printed concrete panels, the first of its kind in NZ and the largest to date in the Southern Hemisphere it was of interest to those that gathered undeterred by the weather.

Dorrington Atcheson Architects spoke of the challenges with being such early adopters of this process and the lessons learned to achieve the award winning house. The house sits beautifully within the site with fantastic north-facing views and stunning curved walls. As the property is a private residence UDINZ members were particularly fortunate to be the first and the only attendees who were able to tour the home.

It did come with some challenges, everything had to be thought through during the design stage including where the power cords needed to be pre build, a few panels broke in transit, but the result at the end was worth the sweat, tears and hard work.

One of our UDINZ members found the journey undertaken particularly interesting. He commented that he thinks we as a country need to lean into new technologies, confront the challenges, understand the benefits and grow from the learnings. From his perspective there are many different ways to approach construction and it’s about selecting the best solution for the context.

Thank you again to Tim Dorrington (Director), Sam Atcheson (Director), Carissa Pickett, Minji Han, Mark Shearer and emma-jane hetherington team at Dorrington Atcheson Architects for taking UDINZ and our members through the unique 3D printed residential home in Pāremoremo.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: One Central

A special thank you to Fletcher Living for leading a large group of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ members through a tour of their exceptional One Central development in Otautahi Christchurch yesterday afternoon.

One Central is creating a range of connected urban neighbourhoods that include plans for hundreds of homes. One Central caters to a variety of lifestyles and life stages providing for balanced work, life and play, within close proximity of the latest cafes, restaurants, city malls, etc. It’s also part of the third largest greenspace in Christchurch (Rauora Park). The last two stages (Carriage and Cambridge Quarters) are sold out and the next cab off the rank is Gloucester Green (120 homes).

Each lot has been designed by local, award-winning architectural practices to provide a variety of languages, materials and finishes.

Our attendees were lucky to visit five different, fully completed housing offerings, from a three stories townhouse to a third floor apartment overlooking the city and the park.

We are grateful to Mark Doyle for organising the tour, Mike Davison for sharing his extensive knowledge about the development and Henry Read from IKON Architects for providing all the details of the architectural features of these stunning homes.

Thank you to our Canterbury Chapter Committee members Irene Boles and Ernette Hutchings-Mason, RPP, MCIP for putting on their UDINZ hats to lead the event for UDINZ.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Executive Rountable Discussion with Hon Simon Court

With thanks to Greg Allen and Sarah Mitchell from UDINZ member Simpson Grierson for hosting yesterday’s Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Executive Roundtable discussion with the Hon Simon Court Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for RMA Reform (and ACT spokesperson for Energy & Resources and Climate Change). A very topical discussion drawing together all elements of the Government’s infrastructure funding and financing work programme, leasing, the new Funding and Financing Framework and new guidance for Market-Led Proposals, as well as the refreshed PPP Framework.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Anyplace Modular Construction

On Tuesday 18 February we visited Anyplace Modular Construction with Adaptable Structures on one of our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer site tours.

Adaptable Structures aim to develop cost-effective, zero-waste products and housing solutions that are multi-use and futureproof. The objective is a fully modular aluminium based structural system (high initial energy from the bauxite, but thereafter infinitely recyclable) that can be reconfigured and repurposed, like kitset furniture, as its owners’ needs change. A range of cladding panels of all sorts compatible with the base structure (some now actually being manufactured to the precise dimensions for zero waste). Different roof typologies can be used including conventional wooden F&T. The standard metal roof option has channels predesigned for solar. The product has multiple applications: in residential, commercial and industrial "enclosure" settings and also in disaster recovery situations. Highly portable (flat- packed and constructed mostly using alum keys) and able to be delivered through a 1 metre gap between existing buildings, and the core product able to be handled by one person at 60kg (glazing installed post construction). Insulation used in the prototypes viewed is a Dunlop product used in tramping mattresses and is also reusable. The system connects to the ground and foundations using ground screws. Consenting proposed via Multiproof. Entry level investment by owners with an entry level price point of $50k mentioned.

An evident desire to operate sustainably, with founder Murphy O'Neal saying it’s a bit of an inditement that the first thing delivered to a conventional building sites tends to be the skip bin. He says it doesn't have to be that way and we can and should be doing better.

All in all a great introduction to an emergent option.

They have been named in the Sustainable Business Networks "Next 95" in the “disruptive innovation” category and were a finalist for the Spark/KiwiBank Innovator of the Year award last December.

One has to wonder about the application of modular systems like this in light of the granny flat proposals being progressed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Ministry for the Environment, supported by the Department of Internal Affairs. It’s expected legislation making changes to the Building Act 2004 to enable them will be introduced alongside new National Environmental Standards for granny flats. Both are expected to be in effect in 2025.

#resilientsustainablehealthy
#allinaotearoa

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Tukutuku: A model for mass timber and low carbon design.

With thanks to our speakers on Tuesday (11 February) evening at our event on mass timber and low carbon design- Andrew Brangwin and Chris Scott from Jasmax, Greg Posa from Auckland University of Technology and Callum Morrison from Naylor Love - for their presentations on Tukutuku at AUTs North Campus, home to the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences and the School of Education

Interesting to get the perspective of the client, designer and constructor to the approach taken as well as some, overwhelming positive, feedback from students and staff using the reimagined campus space.

There was a need to connect, update and enliven existing buildings at AUTs North campus and provide a heart that supported student and staff wellbeing, but also better connected the buildings to the site and surrounding environment on the edge of the harbour. Ground conditions meant considerable savings could be achieved with a concrete platform and a light weight mass timber LVL structure (rather than costly piling) which also met a well-articulated desire for low embodied carbon and whole of life operational costs. Clever management of thermal gain with special glazing and a sawtooth facade on the western elevation enabling light, but controlling northern and western sun penetration obviating the need for exterior shading solutions and more expensive operational cooling (even with the not insignificant human and tech heat sources within the building).

The solution is a large light filled atrium and a four storey post tensioned LVL structure with high seismic and fire performance that connects and better integrates a number of existing buildings and delivers genuinely inspiring functional and social spaces. Attendees enjoyed tours of the spaces and a peek into adjacent spaces after the discussion from our speakers.

A good turnout and great questions from the, clearly well qualified, audience on the process and solutions adopted here and how mass timber use has, and is continuing to, evolve. We even had a couple of attendees from out of town.

With thanks again to Jasmax for their superb hospitality in terms of refreshments offered before and after the discussion and site tour.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Anniversary Breakfast

An excellent turnout yesterday morning at our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ 2025 Regional Anniversary breakfast for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

The brief for our speakers Pam Ford (Director Economic Development, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited) and Tom Irvine (Chief Executive Officer, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Whai Maia) was their personal vision for the future of Auckland.

Both spoke about the rich culture, and topography of the city. The downside of our isthmus is also its blessing, with two harbours and the abundance of green spaces and natural beauty. It’s long been a favoured gathering place: first for Māori and European (our bicultural foundations) and then the many others that followed (a multicultural diversity and richness of its own).  Both spoke of the need to provide pathways and opportunities for, particularly, our young people and the need to understand clearly the demographics of our future, a more youthful and diverse mix (Māori/Pasifika/Asian and the 200 odd other groups that make us up ). Our peoples will inevitably collectively shape the city.

Pam spoke of her vision for a “knowledge city” with dynamic start ups. She noted 50% of NZ tech start ups are already here in Auckland.

She spoke of Connectivity - it’s critical for prosperity. We need the connective tissue of physical and digital infrastructure. There's also a need to foster social connections in an increasingly fractured world. We must be connected to each other and to the Pacific and internationally. People make places and it’s them, rather than the built environment, that must shape our place. There must also be solidarity and respect for universal democracy.

We must also be proud of our city for it to flourish both nationally and internationally.

Pam emphasised the need for all of government (central and local) to work closely with the private sector and acknowledged the role of member associations like UDINZ in that.

Tom spoke of the generous gifting by his tipuna in 1840, but the tribes’ need to regain mana through an active seizing of their own destiny - secured through commercial purchases, as much as treaty settlements (when promises made, were not honoured).

He talked about unfettering (or perhaps another F) Auckland from the constraints that have shackled it. He welcomed change and had an open mind and heart for what might come. He reminded attendees that those assembled (developers) had always been Kaihoahoa - loosely translated as mates/partners.

He said their strategy as an iwi is to build strong economic foundations through investment in the whenua and socially to keep the young (within their 8000 strong tribal group) close through educational grants and housing. They may go, but they will be back with the draw of the Whenua and tipuna.

Thanks to all those who joined us and for the richness of the conversations before and after the session proper.

#KnowledgeConnectionPride
#SeptemberAnniversary #AnotherF

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Ōtepoti Dunedin Tour of Jetty Street Development, Warehouse Precinct

Despite the rain and the less than ideal weather, a very keen crowd gathered to enjoy the first Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series event of the year: Ōtepoti Dunedin Tour of Jetty Street Development and other key buildings within the heritage Warehouse Precinct, Ōtepoti Dunedin. Thanks to the team from McCoy Wixon for leading the tour.

Past, present and future were discussed, with particular interest from attendees around strengthening techniques used on the old buildings and the juxtaposition of modern and historical materials.

Thank you to our Canterbury Chapter Chair Irene Boles for organisation of the event and putting on her UDINZ hat to lead the event for UDINZ.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington Anniversary Breakfast

An excellent gathering yesterday morning of professionals working across urban development at our Wellington Anniversary Breakfast held, for the third year in a row, at the Picnic Cafe in the Begonia house in the Botanic gardens.

We were privileged to hear from:

➡Darrin Apanui (Rangitāne o Wairarapa, Te Ati Haunui a Pāpārangi, Ngāti Porou), CEO of Rangitane Tu Mai Ra Group and Chair of Greater Wellington Leadership Committee; and

➡Daran Ponter, Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council and Director of Ponter Amor Consulting Ltd

Darrin reminded us of the truly aspirational long-term horizons we should be applying to city and regional planning, referencing 150 year iwi time frames (and in one case, referenced by Alan Pollard, a 500 year plan!!)

Darrin talked about the FDS implications for iwi Māori and future generations with a focus on economic development. He reminded us that the 30 year FDS plan accommodates an existing population of 550k odd, but had to anticipate a projected 200k more in the region requiring 99K houses (the capacity they believe they have delivered in the FDS is double that at 200K). Their focus is on growth and opportunity serving the needs of those now, without compromising needs of future generations.

As an iwi, Rangitāne o Wairarapa are focused in four areas:

➡Water- a taonga necessary for human survival;
➡Food - independence and security;
➡Shelter (a Maslow hierarchy requirement) -with 10 unit block now planned and about to be constructed, but 150 proposed over next 15 years - ideally in the future using timber from their own forestry assets. (Those assembled were asked to connect and pitch their skills in relation to that program); and
➡Energy (developing a “community battery” using solar arrays).

Key touch words/themes were:  Caution, opportunity and growth.

Daran talked about making the most of what the region had particularly the rail corridors and acknowledged they form the backbone of focus and are where other infrastructure will be clustered. A case of doubling down, rather than developing out into other areas. He said it’s important to know where your strengths lie and to integrate communities with the transport nodes, rather than them standing in “splendid isolation” as they may have done in the past. Transit oriented development is key and really “using what weve got”. An example given of Trentham where multi faceted development will occur

Daran also talked about replacing and upgrading the system rather than waiting for failures, technology transitions, double tracking, more signalling and upgraded rolling stock….

There is a risk that political cycles (central and local govt) can disrupt a vision. The answer lies in “respecting the region” and staying  the course of what’s right for the area. We must “cut our own track”.

The latter a useful professional touchstone for us all at the start of a new year.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Member Christmas Celebrations

Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ is all about the collective might of our members and the insights they all bring to the discussions on urban development. We were delighted to have so many members, those who volunteer to our various Committees and to our National Board attend end of year functions in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington, Ōtautahi Christchurch and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland over the last week to ten days.

With thanks to the members who kindly hosted these functions Greenwood Roche, Kāinga Maha and Aurecon. Thank you!!

#connectcollaboratecommunity

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ & ARUP - Launch of our Strategic Growth Corridors Report

With thanks to all who turned out yesterday for the launch of our report on Strategic Transport Corridors held at Arup’s new Wellington offices and for their enthusiastic participation in the discussions that followed. We were lucky to have a good cross section of public and private sector leaders and representatives of some of the key agencies, as well as some politicians in the room.

You can view a copy of the report on our website here: https://www.udinz.nz/resourcesandresearch

With thanks again to all contributors.

(We were pleased to be able to use images sourced from our 2024 Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Photography competition in this report - images of and from Aotearoa New Zealand)

#GrowthSeries
#GrowthpaysforGrowth
#Goingforhousinggrowth
#infrastructuredeficit #strategicgrowthcorridors
#ConnectCollaborateCommunity
#ResilientSustainableHealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Carey Street Affordable Housing Development

Excellent turnout for our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ last Summer Site Tour of 2024 in Ōtautahi Christchurch, of Carey Street Affordable Housing Development.

Despite the significant hot and windy conditions: Ed Leeson, General Manger Property of Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust Community Housing Trust (OCHT), gave our many members in attendance a very informative tour of their latest completed project, which pioneers a mixed-tenure models. Ed explained the many challenges this project faced, from sourcing funding (from three different organisations) to the complexities of the financial models. Despite these challenges, OCHT succeeded in delivering a sleek, elegant, sustainable and very well designed development, comprising a mix of two, three, and four bedroom homes, all exceeding the building code requirements and featuring shared spaces, a small basketball court and picnic tables for its residents.

#udinzsummersitetour
#allinAotearoa

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Kāinga Tuarua

With thanks to a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei for allowing us to undertake a tour yesterday afternoon of your Hawaiki Street housing development on the Kupe Street ridgeline in Ōrākei. We were fortunate to have the client and many from the design and delivery team in attendance to discuss their involvement.

We were welcomed onto site in Te reo Māori by Anahera Rawiri who, fittingly, told of successive generations of her family including herself who have settled in the area, with the current generation (a daughter and niece) buying into this particular development. As a Jasmax employee and also Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei she had a compelling perspective on the development as a continuation of a tūrangawaewae.

Neil Donnelly of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Rawa explained the unique tenure model. Residents purchase the homes at cost, without land cost or developer margin. They pay a peppercorn rental. Ngāti Whātua wished to retain the whenua and land rights are a perpetual licence. This particular aspect required some accommodations (and background assurances) for the main trading banks to get comfortable about extending finance. In terms of cost allocation during construction, anything below ground was covered by Ngāti Whātua and above ground formed part of the purchase price paid by residents.

We heard from Jasmax about the design intentions. We heard how many who have purchased property in the development genuinely live, work and play locally in the area. Although they wanted a continuation of that community connection, and for the more vulnerable members of the community (children, other abled and elderly) to have an ease of access between units and the ability to interact in the common central area (carparking only at the sites perimeter), they also needed to create a degree of privacy and retreat. As a consequence, there are clearly designed “thresholds” and private areas as well as the beautifully landscaped central common areas (Planting is sourced largely from Pourewa, an Iwi run plant nursery and māra kai food garden located just up the road with compatible exotic species also added). Claire O'Shaughnessy – Jasmax Landscape Lead for the project also spoke.

A particularly innovative typology was a combined 1 bed unit suitable for elderly or those with mobility/ disability issues and a 4 bed family unit that “wrapped” around it. This allowed intergenerational groups to share a building with a horizontal inter tenancy “wall” with fire rating achieved with concrete used in the smaller lower level unit to safely delineate the two- proximity with independence and separation.

We also heard briefly from Jeff Vivian from Vivian Construction.

With thanks to James Whetter from Jasmax & Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Board for all his work in organising the tour and all those involved in the development who gave up their time to tour attendees around an impressive site with stunning views of the city and the Waitematā.

#udinzsummersitetourseries

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: 342 Waiwhetu Road

The Wellington Chapter of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ kicked off their 2024/2025 Summer site tour series yesterday on a sunny afternoon in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellingtonh with a fascinating tour of a 24 unit site at 342 Waiwhetu Road, Fairfield, Lower Hutt.

Thank you to Nick Taylor, Samuel Godwin and Colin McElwain of Cuttriss Consultants Ltd., and Simon Faisandier from developer Faisandier Group for their tour and hospitality.

We were delighted to also have members of the Hutt City Council team responsible for rezoning in attendance.

Thank you to our UDINZ Chapter Committee members James Solari (Chair) and Raymond Li for leading the tour and the photos.

Post tour members enjoyed networking over drinks in nearby Brew’d Boulcott Bar kindly hosted by Cuttriss Consultants Ltd..

#udinzsummersitetourseries

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Economic & Property Market Update CoreLogic NZ

A small, but dedicated, group turned out last night, in blustery Auckland spring weather, for the last of our three part CoreLogic NZ economic and market updates for 2024 kindly hosted by Beca and last night delivered by Kelvin Davidson, Chief Economist. The size of the group made for some good conversations.

What did CoreLogic have to say? The wrap was something like the following:

🏡New Zealand’s residential real estate market is worth a combined $1.61 trillion.
🏡Property sales volumes rose 16% year-on-year in October, though activity remains below seasonal norms.
🏡The CoreLogic Home Value Index fell 0.5% in October, the eighth consecutive monthly fall, with values down 18% from the national peak.
🏡Total listings on the market have reached 28,954, a 25% increase on the five-year average.
🏡First home buyers reached a record 28% of purchases in October, while mortgaged multiple property owners accounted for 23%.
🏡National rental yields have improved to 3.9%, the highest level since late 2015.
🏡Inflation returned to the 1–3% target band in Q3, with further OCR cuts likely.

With thanks again to Beca and national board member Tracey Haszard for hosting this three part series for Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ. This was, we note, potentially the last event for us with Beca in this particular location, with their office move to the Wynyard Quarter scheduled for early 2025.

#udinzvisibilityseries
#economicandpropertymarketupdate

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: Youth Hub Te Hurihanga ō Rangatahi

Our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Canterbury Members were very lucky to enjoy a tour of the stunning facilities of the The Youth Hub Te Hurihanga ō Rangatahi, just days prior to its opening.

Architect Andrew Just Field studio, Iris Nguyen and Oliver Latimer from Field Studio explained the design, with particular focus on the challenges of the engagement process, aimed at curating the complex programme of the hub, which will host youth service providers as well as accommodate young people in need.

The attendees were particularly impressed with the craftsmanship, beautiful use of warm timber and the care evident in details: from the soothing colour palette used for the youth shared spaces to the quilted blankets in each private room.

A big ngā mihi nui to new Canterbury Chapter Chair Irene Boles for organising this tour.

#udinzsummersitetour
#allinAotearoa

To view photos of the event click HERE.

World Urbanism Day Breakfast

A great time and some excellent conversations had by those early birds attending Fridays Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ breakfast at Crave cafe in Morningside, Auckland celebrating World Urbanism Day. We even had the company of one very well-behaved attendee who sat just outside the door surveying those assembled and likely eyeing up the excellent breakfasts. #newmembershipcategory

#worldtownplanningday
#worldurbanismday
#townplanning

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Reflections from the Urban Future conference

With thanks to Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member Boffa Miskell Limited for hosting two events this week where Miriam Moore (Tainui, Ngāti Mahuta) shared “Reflections from the Urban Future Conference” and the Young leaders program within it.

Those events were a collaboration between Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ and Urban Design Forum NZ and held in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington on Tuesday 5 November; and a second event was held yesterday evening Thursday 7 November in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

We got a great insight into how the Urban Future conference was built from a group of professionals (not unlike those in UDF and UDINZ) wanting to talk about and learn from the mistakes made in city shaping, into the large conference that it is today with a great and accessible program for young professionals.

While there are many differences in what makes our cities across the globe unique, it was reassuring to hear that we face shared problems in escalating opposition to urban change, so need to gain some comfort in embracing the conflict which is a core ingredient in city transformation (especially the reallocation of space).

As an industry, we need to work together with advocates, politicians and citizens to achieve urban change at the pace required to deal with the scale of issues we are facing (like climate change and housing affordability).

Miriam prompted us to consider what are the best mechanisms to accelerate urban transformation and support those trying to implement it in a way that is inclusive of community, while being mindful of the natural aversion to change. A useful provocation for us all in our professional lives (remembering no one is an expert in the future, so we are all equally qualified to contribute)

#connectcollaboratecommunity
#andthatsawraporrap
#Activationbyonethousandeedles
#deathbyonethousandcuts

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: The Court Theatre

The Canterbury Chapter of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ kicked off their 2024 Summer site tour series yesterday on a sunny afternoon in Ōtautahi Christchurch with a fascinating tour of the new Court Theatre Building.

The building is part of the wider performing arts precinct in the central city and complements other nearby venues including the Issac Theatre Royal and the Piano music centre – even replicating some of the elements of the neighbouring buildings. The main theatre will seat close to 400 people and is intentionally compact in design so that the whole audience is in close proximity to the stage so as to provide an intimate viewing experience. The building also contains a number of smaller spaces to provide for theatre games, rehearsals and even prop creation. Key features of the building include the soaring structural timber beams and extensive sound dampening to provide superior acoustics.

A big thank you to Craig Greene (Project Director for Hawkins) and his team for leading us through the building and imparting their knowledge (and to our own Chris Hyslop, Beca from the UDINZ Regional chapter committee for his work on the UDINZ end pulling this tour together). The team expects the building to be functionally complete by years end with the first performances expected in early to mid 2025. UDINZ members were lucky enough to be the last group to tour the building before its opening to the public.

Post tour members enjoyed networking over drinks in nearby Regent Street kindly hosted by Beca.

It was a very enjoyable way to start off the summer site tour series in Waitaha Canterbury and fantastic to see such a great venue being delivered for Ōtautahi.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Update on Auckland Frequent Transport Network

With thanks to new Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member, Auckland Transport for yesterdays very well subscribed, and attended, event providing an update on the expansion of the Frequent Transport Network across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Our speaker Peter Moth, Head of Public Transport Services Planning and Development at Auckland Transport, did a great job explaining what had happened and why and what the priorities would likely be going forward on the basis of policy and funding.

28 new frequent routes added since 2016, with there now being over 40 (Arterial as well as orbital expansions have occurred). The objective had been to target greater numbers of public transport users and those also currently in vehicles and lift patronage through the provision of far more frequent services. A key catch cry that "Frequency is freedom" with an almost immediate lift in patronage (25-30% uplift). As a result of the changes there are now less "Single seat" journeys, but many more within walkable catchments of a service and the frequency is so high that usually where transfer occurs the overall trip is still much faster than it has historically been. (Walkable catchments in this regard are defined as areas 500m from a frequent transport link). Some naming/numbering convention changes too with frequent services now bolded on maps and given two digit route numbers.

Real opportunities for developers who understand more about this network and the amenity it may deliver for residents with opportunities to collaborate on readily accessible network infrastructure like bus stops that might enhance what they are offering.

An excellent summary from one attendee here:

https://lnkd.in/grG5dwxA

#frequencyisfreedom #enrichment
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet #connectcollaboratecommunity #resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: University of Auckland B201

A fabulous Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Tour to The University of Auckland’s B201 Building.

Following an initial brief to revamp a 50 year old building (from 1972) for another 15 years use, the University asked the design team to investigate the adaptive reuse of the structural frame and reimagine the B201 building as a flagship sustainable building with a 6 Green Star rating (NZGBC). The adaptive approach taken by Jasmax (fellow member Beca also involved), stripped the original L-shaped building back to its core of simple columns and floor. Problems with Seismic were solved and more sustainable outcomes achieved through an overarching ethos of simply "putting back less".

The adaptive reuse strategy saved approximately nine months of programme and significant construction costs, as compared to a new build. The seismic issues were addressed by replacing the heavy concrete cladding with high performance curtain walls, also enabling vistas to the domain, port, Symonds Street, the adjacent business school and Wynyard street below to be opened up (but without increasing thermal load). By flipping internal corridors to the perimeter, there is a nice equality of views for the building's occupants.

The building's sustainability credentials and operational footprint proudly displayed digitally in the atrium alongside digital art. Both that area, the stair wells and lecture theatres display a beautiful use of slatted timber detail and carvings reflective of a cultural narrative developed with iwi. The exposed surfaces and services add an industrial aesthetic that is both raw and sophisticated. A lesser seen elevation on Wynyard street also offered an interesting changing facade activated by sunlight. The piece de resistance, a stunning atrium on Symonds street over a formerly cold courtyard now protected by a glazed saw tooth roof with generous timber beams (supplemented by steel) and overhead glazing that leads the eyes up. A space clearly popular with students and staff alike.

With thanks to Rebecca Irwin of UDINZ member Jasmax for the tour.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy
#AdaptiveReuse

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Event: 'Revitalising Pōneke’s Civic Heart'

The Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Wellington Chapter’s inaugural ‘brown bag’ lunch time event ‘Revitalising Poneke’s Civic Heart’ proved resoundingly popular, with excellent registrations and attendance.

Speaker Anna Calver (Wellington City Council’s Chief Economic and Engagement Officer) spoke about the opportunities and investments occurring within Wellington. While Wellington does have its challenges, over $4 billion investment will be made across physical, social and cultural infrastructure over the next 10 years, all of which is designed to contribute to the vision of “a creative city where people and nature thrive”.

Farzad Zamani, PhD (Wellington City Council’s Progamme Manager – Te Ngakau precinct) provided insights into one the highest profile developments in Wellington – that of the Te Ngakau civic centre - which encompasses Te Matapihi Central Library, Wellington Town Hall, Wellington City Gallery, the Michael Fowler Centre, the City to Sea bridge, and Civic Square, along with a number of other buildings and spaces. Farz provided an update into Council decision making to date, future decisions to come and possible range of outcomes that may be achieved. Of particular interest was a desire to activate the edges of the precinct (whereas previously it was very inward looking), and what development would mean for people numbers in the area and thus activation and expenditure. He also provided details of the forthcoming consultation programme.

Audience questions were wide ranging, with one attendee asking if perhaps there was a silver lining to being earthquake prone, in that it triggers investment and improvements that would not otherwise be realised.

Thank you to Rebecca Gallacher from our UDINZ Wellington Chapter for help with organising this event and to Wellington City Council for kindly providing the venue for this discussion. Thanks too to Kim Kelly for MCing.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Summer Site Tour Series: “The Hill” with Fletcher Living

We were pleased yesterday afternoon with the turnout at the first Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Tour for the 24/25 season.

It was a presentation on, and tour of, “The Hill” a development by UDINZ member Fletcher Living of a 6.2ha parcel of land at Ellerslie Racecourse.

The proposed development will include approximately 370 residential units in a mix of housing typologies including apartments, duplex, terraced and detached houses and retirement living - all developed as part of a master planned community. The site sits on an elevated ridgeline between established suburbs of Remuera and Ellerslie and not far from the Waiatarua wetland and recreational area. As well as the housing, the development will also create new open spaces and pedestrian and cycle connections alongside new public roads.

Attendees heard about the vision (amazing outlook to Maunga, central location and changing interest of the race course itself) and got to see first hand how it will all look using the proptech provided by fellow UDINZ member DisplaySweet.

Much interest too in the experience of the project team with their consenting process. The Hill was a project considered under the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 (FTCA)- (Lodged September of 2002 and granted in April 2023) - very topical with fast tracking on everyone’s minds with recent government announcements in that space. Site optimised with a buffer zone at the edge and different typologies located to optimise the nature and range of views and meet needs of residents (eg Vivid lower down on site with a flat walk to Ellerslie village). Traffic volumes reduced by onsite perimeter roading and multiple entrances to public roading networks. An Incorporated society manages the landscape which enables retention of existing trees and allows more mature planting, including of the berms. Biggest challenges solving storm water, but achieved by helping release capacity in the wider network and developing a pond (itself used for watering the track in summer).

At the conclusion of the presentations, those that were interested got to go view the civil works already undertaken on site (loop road and retaining walls).

Thanks again to Fletcher Living for hosting and kicking off our Summer Site Tour series!!.

#udinzsummersitetourseries
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Development Pipeline - Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

A sold out event last night at our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Development Pipeline in Tāmaki Makaurau, the third event in a three part 2024 series sponsored by, UDINZ member, Watersmart and, in this instance, kindly hosted by Templeton Group (New Zealand) at Abstract Hotel & Residences.

We heard from Andrew Olsen from Sponsor Watersmart on their offerings and insights on forward work program.

We then heard about the design and delivery journey for the following projects.

Project #1 – Albany Rose Garden, presented by Anton Fenwick, Context
Project #2 – Toi, Pt Chev, presented by William Deihl, Ockham Residential
Project #3 – College & Mason, Stonefields, presented by Nigel McKenna, Templeton Group (New Zealand)
Project #4 – Point Chevalier Apartment Complex presented by Patrick Dougherty, Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities

Too many insights to list here, but some common threads of Covid disruption and working around site constraints - whether motorway bounded spaces or proximity of adjacent big box retail. An interesting issue raised by several as to whether street level retail activations are viable in the context of the densities were achieving in some of these developments. The solution of adaptable double duty domestic/commercial spaces at ground floor seemed like a good solution (put us in mind of what we had seen last year in Carseldine Village). There was a sense too that all had iterated approaches and learned from what worked and resonated with consumers particularly as staged developments delivered. Good to also see local responses to place in designs whether referring Volcanos or Harakeke. The value proposition of connection to Water bodies (even if engineered) also highlighted.

Great to also get current and prospective members together and continue to create the connections we're all about.

Thanks again to our sponsors, gracious hosts and especially our speakers for giving up their time and sharing their thoughts.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Innovation Series Webinar: Developing better homes – a win for your development finances and your purchasers.

Matthew Cutler-Welsh from NZGBC talked through how tens of thousands of homes are now being built to certified green standards. 

He;
🏡set out the practical steps you can take to make that difference, 
🏡explained the whole of life impacts for that asset which delivers lower running costs and health outcomes for consumers and also 
🏡set out how certifying to green standards enables lower interest development finance and lower interest mortgages for both developers and their customers.   

Innovation Series Webinar: Showcasing the Allsite.ai LevelAi system

Founder Sam Blackbourn presented compelling case studies showcasing the Allsite.ai LevelAi system, which delivers a remarkable 10x improvement in design completion times and cost efficiency for clients. Sam also introduced ServiceAi, an advanced AI solution that revolutionizes the design of infrastructure servicing for land development projects.

Allsite.ai partners with leading land developers in the US and New Zealand to drive innovation in the industry.

Civix, "a premier land development consultancy in New Zealand", was co-founded by Sam Blackbourn in 2016, with a vision to revolutionize the industry through innovative technology. By developing their own advanced technology stack, Civix delivers land development designs that are faster, more cost-effective, and superior in quality. In 2022, Civix's cutting-edge technology was spun off into a new startup, Allsite.ai. Today, Allsite.ai stands at the forefront of the industry, pioneering the use of artificial intelligence in land development design.

UDINZ Economic and Property Market Update in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Another very insightful economic and property update last night by Kelvin Davidson from Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Member and research partner CoreLogic NZ. It was the first update in Ōtautahi Christchurch, kindly hosted by UDINZ member Eliot Sinclair.

We heard how property sales and prices have softened in recent months, with pricing power still in the hands of buyers. Indeed, stock on the market has lifted right across the country compared to a year ago.

In this environment, though, first home buyers are still faring pretty well, enjoying lower house prices, access to low deposit or high LVR finance at the banks, and of course less competition from other buyer groups!

Looking ahead, some factors will still be challenging for the market (including the slowdown in net migration, the sluggish economy, mounting job losses, and stretched affordability). But with inflation now back close to its target, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has of course commenced its cycle of easing monetary policy, with the official cash rate potentially headed down to 4% or so this time next year. That implies a typical mortgage rate of perhaps 5.5% – a welcome relief for many cash-strapped households.

The construction sector is clearly in a tough patch at the moment, but lower interest rates could help to underpin some kind of floor for demand and workloads next year.

Overall, then, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a small bounce in property market sentiment and prices in the next few months, off the back of lower interest rates. In saying that, the market isn’t likely to race away, given the challenges that still prevail. Debt to income ratios will also start to kick in over the medium term as mortgage rates drop.

Time for some tentative optimism overall.

Thank you to Warren Haynes from, UDINZ Member, Eliot Sinclair for closing off the evening and our UDINZ Canterbury Committee Member Sophie Burtt also from Eliot Sinclair for bringing this insightful event to our Canterbury Members for the first time.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Creating Vibrant, Resilient Communities through better Urban Form.

With thanks to those that joined us in Wellington last week for our "Creating Vibrant, Resilient Communities through better Urban Form" event delivered in partnership with, member, Greater Wellington Regional Council Te Pane Matua Taiao and kindly hosted by member NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

We heard from:

➡️Alan Whiteley (WSP in New Zealand) who took us through on the newly released Urban Design Toolkit for the Wellington region commissioned by the Wellington Regional Council ;

➡️Stu Farrant (Morphum Environmental) who took us through the history of the water catchment that services the CBD in its various incarnations and how we might take a different more water-sensitive approach to urban design and development; and

➡️Andrew Schoultz (Sense Partners) who talked about analysis he has done on compact urban development close to existing transport links and infrastructure and how models for the cost of that are designed.

All speakers emphasised that population across the Wellington region will be increasing exponentially and the best way to influence the future for us to is to design it to provide for that growth.

In doing so it's critical we connect people to places both for the better functioning of those places, the wellbeing of our citizenry and the health of the natural and built environment. All the work we do should be based on place.

Another important consideration is climate. Our climate is changing and we must take this into account – whether this is through design, how we use and work with water or living in more dense neighbourhoods.

We should as urban development professionals view redevelopment as an opportunity, an opportunity to enhance outcomes. Through our work we should be asking “what opportunities does this work providing for improving outcomes”?

It was acknowledged that there is an unhelpful tension between a housing crisis and better outcomes for the future. With perceived cost, rather than whole of life value, being used as a key roadblock to better outcomes. The question was posed - how can we grow the Wellington Region whilst also managing cost!

It's all about better urban form and how as a society we might go about building more connected, vibrant and resilient communities, all in the most cost effective way!

With thanks to Catherine Knight PhD of WRC for all her work in pulling this event together and thanks again to our venue hosts NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi who provided access to the space for the discussion to occur.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

LEAD Alliance – Laying the groundwork for a better Auckland

With thanks to those who turned up last Thursday night to our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ “Collaboration in Action” event hosted by Harrison Grierson. We heard from Mark Crowle, Alliance General Manager of the LEAD Alliance looking back at the five years LEAD Alliance has been in place and discussing some of the lessons learned during this time.

This project is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in New Zealand’s history. LEAD Alliance is and has been enabling land and infrastructure for new homes on behalf of Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities across eight Auckland neighbourhoods totalling 52 km2 - equivalent to half the land area of Hamilton. We have previously visited the output of their work on our Large scale regional tours held in late 2023 and early 2024, but this event examined the collaboration between parties that made those developments possible.

The Alliance has delivered in excess of $700m design and construction work so far- providing for 260 super lots and enabling 5000+ homes. We heard about the challenges faced putting in new infrastructure whilst working around existing communities and the timing issues encountered with delivery to build partners whilst still actively constructing the necessary infrastructure.

The key value of this alliance is that it follows a program delivery, not a project delivery, model. That model has scale and has allowed lessons learnt along the way to be addressed with the necessary changes made to provide for future efficiencies.

With thanks to Auckland Chapter Committee member Angela Stewart who helped organise this event and to Harrison Grierson for generously hosting it at their offices in Parnell.

You can expect to see more events from us highlighting "Collaboration in Action" as we think it is a key ingredient in helping address our housing shortfall.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Trans-Tasman Delegation to Melbourne 2024

• Day 1 - Study Tours - view here

  • Docklands, Marvel Stadium and the Southern Cross Station, kindly hosted by our Silver Sponsor Grimshaw & AFL

• Day 1 - Delegation Welcome Dinner - view here

  • Lucy Liu, kindly co-hosted alongside Delegation Partner and Platinum Sponsor Harrison Grierson

• Day 2 - Study Tours - view here

  • 38 Albermarle St by Assemble

  • LIV Aston and LIV Munro by Mirvac

  • Lunch at Queen Victoria Markets

  • Nightingale Preston by Nightingale Housing

• Day 2 - Trans-Tasman Housing Policy Event - view here

  • Kindly co-hosted alongside UDINZ Member and Silver Sponsor Beca in conjunction with UDIA Victoria

  • Speakers included: Beca’s Victorian Regional Manager Emma Thomas, UDINZ CEO Adrienne Miller, UDIA Victoria CEO Linda Allison, President of UDIA Victoria, Tom Trevaskis and, Board Member, Nicola Smith, UDINZ National Board Chair, Campbell McGregor and, Board Member, Tracey Haszard.

• Day 3- Greenline Project Breakfast - view here

  • Kindly co-hosted alongside City of Melbourne

• Day 3 - Study Tours - view here

  • Burwood Brickworks by Frasers Property Australia

  • Lunch at Rombe

  • R.Iconic by R.Corporation

  • Dinner at Strato Melbourne Bar and Restaurant hosted by UDINZ

• Day 3 - PropTech demonstration at The Canopy - view here

  • Kindly co-hosted alongside Bronze Sponsor DisplaySweet

• Day 4 - Executive Round Table Thought Leadership Breakfast - view here

  • Kindly co-hosted alongside with Infrastructure Victoria

  • Speaker Dr Jonathan Spear, Chief Executive of Infrastructure Victoria.

• Day 4 - Study Tours - view here

  • YarraBend by Glenvill Development

  • Moonee Valley Park by Hamton Property Group

  • Lunch at TOTE Bar & Dining

  • Williams Landing by Cedar Woods Properties Ltd

• Day 4 - Delegation Dinner, Bomba Rooftop Bar - view here

  • Kindly co-hosted alongside UDINZ foundational member and Bronze Sponsor Context

• Day 5 - Study Tours - view here

  • Delaray by Villawood Properties

  • Arcadia by Satterley Property Group

  • Lunch at the Club Officer Bistro

  • Waterlea by Stockland

• Day 5 - Delegation Closing Event - view here

  • Hosted by UDINZ

Leadership in Local Placemaking: Eke Panuku. Creating Amazing Places

A great evening hearing about the work of Eke Panuku Development Auckland. Holding many puzzle pieces and over time piecing them together to release the potential of places for people, filling in gaps where needed (ideally without needing to call on compulsory acquisition in too many instances). A long term collaborative game with rewarding results and one where Eke Panuku seek to be (as it was put) "biodegradable" - gradually growing the capability of those in the community to care for and take on stewardship of place and the community connections and activations created and themselves fading out.

Thanks to Gyles Bendall, Duncan Ecob, Sara Zwart and various others in the Eke Panuku team that joined us and to the team from Frequency, Tim Palin and Michael Holloway in particular, for hosting us all.

A fabulous turnout to an Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ event in inclement weather, so thanks also to our audience for making the effort to be part of the conversations - with presenters and each other.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Development Pipeline Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington

On a sunny calm evening in Wellington (just like the old saying “Wellington on a good day….”) nearly 50 urban development professionals gathered for our most recent Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ 2024 Development Pipeline series event.

First up we heard from our series sponsor Watersmart on their innovative products and services.

Then we moved to our four development speakers. At this event our theme was social and affordable housing and all operate in that space. Speakers included:

➡️Dwell Housing Trust with Ingrid Irene Downey
➡️Urban Plus Limited with Danny Moriarty
➡️Toa Developments with Alan Blundell
➡️The Wellington City Mission with Murray Edridge

The crowd were entertained and informed by the four speakers who had both practical and heart wrenching antidotes to provide.

Some key messages/take away thoughts are:

➡️The overwhelming key message was that these organisations are in the business of ensuring people live their best lives, and not purely in the housing business. A house is a key part of service and how people they work with live with dignity.

➡️The government rules and landscape are always changing and this makes it difficult for long term planning of housing in the social and affordable housing area – the rules a current development may operate under, will most likely be different when they start planning the next development.

➡️Funding is a hard and constant pressure. The organisations that presented access funding from individuals in the private sector including individual donors providing donations because they want to help solve the housing problems, councils (in the way of being a shareholder or reductions in fees), iwi/Māori organisations, central government and the banking sector.

➡️Anytime the funds from one of these sources is turned off the whole thing has to be rethought through with the overall funding and financing for the housing sector continuing to get harder over time.

➡️The organisations in this sector in the Wellington region are generally small – resourcing to meet the ever increasing demand for housing is hard and assistance in scaling up would be a game changer.

Thank you to UDINZ co-host Liam Hodgetts from Wellington City Council.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy
#WatersmartDevelopmentPipelineSeries24

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Macro-economic Update with CoreLogic - July

Another very insightful economic and property update last night by Nick Goodall from Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Member and research partner CoreLogic NZ. It was part two of a three part series here in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, kindly being hosted by UDINZ member Beca. We welcomed new faces joining us for the first time, as well the "loyal following".

Nick talked about the very real battle between inflation and market recovery with interest rates still relatively high. The Demand is out there but held back by the availability and cost of credit.

Demand for rental properties has increased and first home buyers continue to make sacrifices.

First home buyer motivators still apply in most scenarios (despite the loss of govt support on deposits) given the high cultural drive for home ownership that is part of our national psyche. They're so keen as a group they will find a way to get into the market even if it's trimming discretionary spending or settling for less expensive offerings - of which there are many more in the current market. A much more resilient group than many.

The Reserve Bank restrictions which reduce (DTI) from 1 July mean that the high risk lending of the past is less likely into the future.

The 30% deposit requirements (down from 40%) make it easier to buy and we'll start to see investors willing again to borrow.

Movers are currently static, but there's a pent up demand there that will drive sales, particularly as interest rates start to drop.

We're currently sitting at the worst mortgage affordability in 20 years and the market is definitely a buyers market, but pricing should improve as interest rates fall and banks are already showing signs of competing for market share in the context of a lowered volume of sales.

There's a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for interest rates, with a decrease seemingly coming closer (with the Business Case for an OCR drop also improving - he predicts a move possibly as soon as November).

Less said on the supply side (although that promoted the greatest discussion with those in attendance) on whether there actually is an under supply (he says maybe not as the people per dwelling numbers are close to the average over time and we are still seeing greenfield offerings added). If there is in fact an under supply, it's difficult pinning down quantum, within a fairly broad range of third party estimations of undersupply.

Its certainly a tough new build market and what Nick did say is that its roughly two years from the peak of consenting till actual new builds will decline.

Indications (net new properties metric) suggest the high has already "turned" but it's still a grind from here. Survive till '25 the message with property market recovery tracking similarly to recovery from the GFC.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet #connectcollaboratecommunity
#strongertogether
#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Development Pipeline Ōtautahi Christchurch

On Tuesday 25 July we held the first (in a three part series) of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ 2024 Development Pipeline events sponsored by Watersmart, in Ōtautahi Christchurch. We were kindly hosted for the evening by Aurecon. It was a full house (event was oversubscribed) and we had a fully engaged audience, keen to hear about the projects showcased.

Great to hear from sponsor Watersmart about their varied offerings and to have both Roger Adlam and Kevin Palmer in attendance to answer questions.

Thank you to our speakers for your time in preparing for and presenting information and insights on your projects:

Project #1 - Te Pākau Maru, New Brighton - Presented by Annie Wilson, Kāinga Maha
Project #2 - Woods Mill, Addington - Presented by Michael King, Centraus Structural Consulting
Project #3 - Tupuānuku & Tupuārangi, UC - Presented by Vanessa Carswell, Jasmax
Project #4 - Beachside Sumner - Presented by James Lunday DINZ, Common Ground
Project #5 - Bellgrove, Rangiora - Brent Toms, Aurecon

Thank you also to Brent Toms from our UDINZ Canterbury Chapter (and the lovely Justine Wyld from Aurecon) for helping organise and host the event.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity
#resilientsustainablehealthy
#WatersmartDevelopmentPipelineSeries24

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Event on District Plan changes in the Wellington Region

Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ was pleased to hold an event last week kindly hosted by member Boffa Miskell Limited where we offered three councils in the wider Wairarapa-Wellington-Horowhenua region the chance to present on on their new District Plans and the implications for urban development. The event was well attended by a range of local government, iwi, central government and private sector members and others.

Attendees said they appreciated the ability to hear about all three plan changes and the opportunities for growth.

With the planning now done, consideration moves onto other factors such as how to fund and deliver infrastructure in support of the planned capacity so the urban development and housing we want can be delivered.

With thanks again to our speakers,

➡️ Stephen Davis - Hutt City Council;
➡️ Stewart McKenzie - Porirua City Council,
➡️ Michael Duindam - Wellington City Council;
➡️ Anne Cunningham from our hosts Boffa Miskell Limited

Big thank you also to Kim Kelly of our UDINZ National Board and Wellington Chapter Committee for facilitating the discussion this event.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Special Walkthrough of LowCO by Fletcher Living

With thanks to Steven Evans, Chief Executive - Residential and Development, and Nicola Tagiston, Head of Sustainability from Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member Fletcher Living for hosting yesterday lunchtime's "walkthrough" of LowCO.

We saw Fletcher Living’s innovative pilot home project and the 3 bed terrace-housing equivalent and got an explanation of the innovative products, systems and landscaping used in both.

Thanks too to the speakers Ged Campbell of member Watercare Services Limited and Philip Kingston of member Watersmart (supplier of Hydraloop amongst other things) who also contributed to the discussion.

LowCO reimagines how we build homes in New Zealand, to make them healthier, warmer, drier and more sustainable through technology solutions but also lots of small details (less corners in the design, soffits, argon filled glass windows that align with "puffer jacket" wooden insulation, reduced waste through offsite manufacturing and careful management of material etc etc) which together all add up to a great result (recently awarded 10 Homestar rating from NZGBC). Knock on effects too from examples "shown, not told" eg experience of the crossing design having persuaded Auckland transport to now accept lower carbon options on which they will shortly be releasing a practice note for the industry.

LowCO became a reality through a collaboration of Fletcher Building businesses and a partnership with Watercare Services Limited (and many others) to meet the overarching goal of building with seven times less carbon than a standard New Zealand built home.

For those not able to attend yesterday's tour that are interested in the learnings do keep a watch out for our upcoming coverage of this project online as part of our webinar series "Innovation in Housing: thinking that's outside the box!" On a related topic there's an upcoming workshop we're hoping to also run in conjunction with NZGBC.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Site Tour Series: Marian College Ōtautahi Christchurch

A special thanks to Mary-Lou Davidson, Principal of Marian College for hosting our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Canterbury community site tour of an extraordinary example of architectural reuse: the conversion of a giant commercial warehouse into a school campus, the only example of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, possibly in the world, right here in our own Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Brent Stewart said "Having an accurate laser scanned 3D CAD model ‘As-built’ of the existing building structure is essential to allow new development to fit cleanly within."

And of course, thank you to the key experts in this project for sharing your insights with our UDINZ community, we could not have done it without you:

Jasper Van der Lingen, Architect and Director at Sheppard & Rout Architects,
Dave Anderson at JOHN JONES STEEL LIMITED,
Brent Stewart at Eliot Sinclair ,
Damian Leary of Armitage Williams Construction Ltd, and
Isaac Williams of Powell Fenwick

Big thank you also to Irene Boles and Sophie Burtt of our UDINZ Canterbury Chapter Committee for leading this tour.

A great turnout for an equally great event, which saw several UDINZ members, industry partner, new connections and Ara Institute of Canterbury Architecture students come together to learn about excellence and innovation in construction.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Thought Leadership Panel co-hosted by JASMAX

With thanks to our speakers and panelists at Tuesday evening's Thought Leadership Panel hosted by Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member Jasmax: Andrew Brangwin and Alistair Ray of Jasmax; Andrew Lamb, Infratil; David Hampton, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi; Hayley Fitchett, Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities; and Mat Peters, Avant Group.

It was called "Moving beyond the grayscale" because in examining aerial photographs of some of our key transport hubs the preponderance of carparks on public land and around big box retail nearby dominated. The potential for housing intensity within walkable catchments was well articulated by Andy Brangwin.

The underlying purpose of the event was to talk about quality compact urbanism and what stands in the way of the benefits of urban intensification being realised.

Some interesting issues emerged. As well as the costs of getting out of the ground, panelists spoke to the perverse impacts of height restrictions. While enabling greater height might sound good, it can operate to disproportionately inflate the cost of underlying land with the potential intensity not in fact stacking up financially in a feasibility analysis, so nothing eventuates. The question was posed - what if we had no height limits in our cities and metro centres? It was noted there’s also a potential first mover disadvantage, with “follow on” developers in adjacent areas realising benefits without having to “take the hit” of the first mover developer who proceeds with a denser option, despite a poor “feaso”.

We talked about how the eventual delivery entity needed to take the uplift in value, and not speculators or land bankers. This led to a conversation about how we could connect our planning regime to outcomes including design and amenity.

It was noted BTR could be a “drug of choice” which converts consumers to the value proposition of high-amenity apartment living. It is a value proposition that stakeholders within the "bank of Mum and Dad" also realistically need to be persuaded of (with childhood familiarity of typologies - in NZ, low density and single use prevailed -skewing perceptions).

The role of Local government and Central government agencies also discussed - whether as activators or land aggregators/benefactors. The concept of our cities stepping up into a leadership role and setting up development ambassadors within councils, to shepherd issues of significance to development, a concept also discussed. Not all doom and gloom, with some shining examples (eg Wynyard Quarter) held up to show what happens when a vision has been orchestrated into existence through strong public sector leadership. And yes, the discussion did speak to the elephant in the room of construction costs!

This is a discussion which will be continued. Those interested in contributing to our work in this space should reach out either to us or our partners at Jasmax to discuss how they might get involved.

hashtag#movingbeyondthegrayscaleTo view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Visibility Series: Macro-economic Update with CoreLogic

We were pleased to welcome some new faces, as well the "loyal following" (as UDINZ National Board member Tracey Haszard so aptly put it) to our Macro-Economic update with Kelvin Davidson from Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Member and research partner CoreLogic NZ. This was part one of a three part series here in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland kindly being hosted by Beca.

Kelvin discussed the latest trends in the economy and property market, including lending and tax. The overarching theme was "the year of the underwhelming upturn".

Kelvin outlined how:
➡️Affordability is still very much an issue and mortgage rates are not set to fall much just yet (and possibly not till next year - although the market seems to have adjusted surprising well to big top ups);
➡️More listings have shifted pricing power to buyers;
➡️Still some mortgage repricing vulnerability to keep an eye on too - especially if we see more job losses with many having re-fixed for relatively short terms hoping for interest rate relief that realistically probably isn't coming just yet;
➡️Sales to rise 10% this year and next, but admittedly from a pretty low base;
➡️Prices to rise 5% this year, but variability from month to month and across regions and some volatility there too potentially;
➡️First home buyers likely to remain a force (but watching investors too)

The full slide deck will be sent out to those who registered to attend yesterday evening’s event. Watch out for the follow on events in the three part series which are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday 23 July and Thursday 21 November (with Nick Goodall returning to the stage in July).

Make sure you're in the room for these very valuable next updates - both for the insights and also the connection across our urban development community in what is shaping up to be a challenging environment.

hashtag#Whereindustryandinsightmeet hashtag#connectcollaboratecommunity
hashtag#strongertogether
hashtag#resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Executive Roundtable Discussion with Hon. Minister Christopher Bishop

We were pleased to be offered the chance for an executive roundtable discussion with the Honourable Minister Christopher Bishop and his advisers (Elizabeth Innes & David Hermans) when in Auckland today.

With thanks to Mayurie Gunatilaka and the team at Arup for providing us with access to an engaging space within your offices for members of the UDINZ Board and representatives from some of our members to be able to have a conversation with Minister Bishop.

Some great exchanges and interest in further meetings to help inform housing delivery at a pace and scale that meets the government's desired delivery horizons.

hashtag#whereindustryandinsightmeet
hashtag#connectcollaboratecommunity
hashtag#resilientsustainblehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Summer Site Tour Series: Templeton’s Abstract Hotel & Residences

We at Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ and our members were delighted on a blustery Friday afternoon to receive a tour of Templeton Group (New Zealand) “Abstract” in upper Queen St from none other than Nigel McKenna himself.

Thoughtful and well-designed amenity accessible to residents along a continuum from temporary (hotel guests) to semi-permanent (residential) - flexible too, operationally, between the two depending on demand. Attendees (particularly those who work locally) were pleased to hear that access was also available by the public to a range of hospitality offerings within the complex, as well as a gorgeous spa treatment area looking out over tranquil green spaces towards Grafton.

Abstract Hotel & Residences is located on the brow of the Karangahake ridge (soon to be serviced by a CRL station) with all that location already offers - walkable to CBD, Eden Park, hospital and Ponsonby too nearby. Incredible art and bespoke furnishings (all with a provenance) and even hand-selected books in the library very much enrich the experience.

We were a small, but mighty, group of attendees - with lots of questions! Lots of conversations on both this property and the market generally in the property’s “Wintergarden” after the tour was over.

Thanks again Nigel for your thoughts and the hospitality very kindly extended to attendees on the tour.


#BTR #personaltouch #provenance

To view photos of the event click HERE.

UDINZ Visibility Series: Bayleys update on demand-driven trends

We were delighted yesterday evening in collaboration with, new Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member, Bayleys Real Estate to be able to deliver an extremely well subscribed demand-driven insights event. With thanks again to Bayleys for hosting us and for the insights delivered by Suzie Wigglesworth and Chris Farhi MRICS and the market expert panel discussing the latest marketing innovation shaping the residential sector comprised of:

• David Hillier - One to One Hundred Ltd
• Shehan Wijetillake - Glasshouse Digital
• Gaylene Anderson - Work Communications

Those who registered to attend this event will receive follow up emails with the Bayleys insight slides and information on UDINZ membership (for those of you who are not (yet!) UDINZ members).

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity #resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Innovation Series Webinar - Simplicity’s Novel Funding & Construction Methodology

With thanks to Shane Brealey, Managing Director, Simplicity Living, who spoke yesterday at one of our many sessions in our 2024 Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ series “Innovation In Housing : Thinking that’s outside the box!”

Simplicity Living is on a path to build 10,000 Build-to-Rent homes across New Zealand in the next 10 years. The first 1,256 are complete, in construction or currently being consented. The key to success is a high-performing financial model that delivers strong returns and attracts increasing numbers of investors through Simplicity. Development and construction costs, when measured against comparable projects, are approximately 30-35% less. Zero margin helps with the significant balance coming from a manufacturing mindset using Kaizen principles. The target is 100 year+ design life properties with very low maintenance requirements. Our resident communities are paying less than market rents and enjoying secure tenure.

Summer Site Tour Series: Te Kī a Alasdair Apartments, Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington

Thanks to Jonathan Tomkins and Todd Gilbert for showing Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ members around Te Kī Alasdair – The Voice of Alasdair, the Kirva Trust’s Community Housing project on Thursday.

Todd and Jonathan, representing the Kirva Trust and McKee Fehl Constructors Ltd, generously shared their experiences designing and constructing the apartment building in collaboration with their Community Housing Provider partners, Emerge Aotearoa and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Demonstrating the complexity and attention to detail that goes in to providing fit for purpose, high quality social housing.

We were fortunate to check out the last untenanted apartment and inner workings of the building, learning about the clever energy efficient design that has gone into achieving the 6 Homestar Rating.

As the Kirva Trust intend to own this building for many years, a lot of thought has gone in to the sustainability of the project, and we were impressed with their effort to install a robust network of solar panels on the Roof of the 11 story building in a high wind zone.

After a visit to the neighboring heritage listed Chinese Mission Hall, and the surrounding grounds which will be turned into a pocket park for the city to enjoy, we headed to Fortune Favours to close out our event with some refreshments and a bit more Q&A. 

Thank you to Naomi Walker our UDINZ Wellington Chapter Committee member for taking our members on this site tour.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity #resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Fast-Track Concenting Panel Discussion

With thanks to Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member Bell Gully for hosting panel discussion on the new Fast Tracking Bill at their offices in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington.

Our Panelists were :
➡️Natasha Garvan from Bell Gully. (Panel Facilitator)
➡️Poul Israelson from Harrison Grierson.
➡️Richard Preece from Environmental Protection Authority NZ.
➡️Sean Audain from Wellington City Council.
➡️Gillian Blythe from Water New Zealand.

Great discussions and insights from our highly experienced panel drawing on their experience of previous similar mechanisms and sharing concerns for how this may all work in practice.

Thanks for all those who made the time to attend the in person session or joined us online on the cusp of what is a busy holiday weekend.

#Whereindustryandinsightmeet
#connectcollaboratecommunity #resilientsustainablehealthy

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Summer Site Tour Series: The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Ōtautahi Christchurch

We were delighted to run a tour of Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, Otautahi Christchurch earlier this week which showcased what is possible with a multidisciplinary and team-based approach to restoration. The project involved restoring and reinstating one of New Zealand’s largest collection of Heritage 1 status buildings.  

After many years in rebuild mode, Christchurch is proving an extraordinary example of urban renewal – both the positive outcomes together with the valuable and continuous learnings.

It was a privilege to have Nick Hawkins and Philip Aldridge lead this tour for us and we are very grateful for their time and this opportunity for members of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ and Affiliate Organisations, together with members of the public (including local residents groups) to be able to attend and view the work undertaken. We took a slightly different approach with this event relaxing our usual pricing model to enable more to attend and participate consistent with the community impact of the project. 
 
In terms of insights, much was put down to the expertise, workmanship, collaboration, and trust between the multidisciplinary team - using the NEC contract - that enabled restoration of the buildings and spaces for today and tomorrow’s expectation.  
 
"The trust in the team, with the NEC contract, allowed us to run toward the risk, rather than run away from it” noted Nick Hawkins.
 
The team involved were many and ranged across multiple disciplines with technology also playing a part.

Sophie Burtt of Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member Eliot Sinclair (and also a Canterbury Chapter Committee member), who was the member of the committee who stepped up to organise the tour for UDINZ, shared how Eliot Sinclair’s point cloud data survey techniques had been instrumental in the Observatory restoration. Matariki celebrations also all the better for the Heritage Stargazing tours now possible via a partnership between The Arts Centre and the University of Canterbury.

Other disciplines and skillsets were involved in designing and building a new dome and delivering the boutique Observatory Hotel. Across the board the attention to detail was extraordinary.
 
Many projects and processes could take learnings from this project and process, and we urge them to reach out to those involved Holmes, Leighs Construction Ltd or The Arts Centre etc.
 
A reminder of the ongoing challenges for the centre: Although the repairs are now completed the challenges continue as for the first time ever, the Council’s draft long-term plan, released this week for consultation, does not include money for the Arts Centre. Public submissions are open now direct link to the submission form for those interested in submitting. Link can be found here: https://makeasubmission.ccc.govt.nz/submission.aspx?z=K7OFCR&sID=93J0EO9UJp0|eq
 
With thanks again to Sophie Burtt for her work on pulling this tour together.
 
#ConnectCollaborateCommunity
#Whereindustryandinsightmeet

To view photos of the event click HERE.

International Women’s Day Breakfast Celebrations - Auckland & Wellington

Thanks from those of our members that took time out last Friday to join other members of the Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ community at our International Women’s Day Breakfasts in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau and Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

A great opportunity to connect with others across the development ecosystem. The volume levels in the room in both cases suggested that opportunity was well utilised!

With thanks to the teams at L’Affare and Hello Friends & Allies for helping fuel the discussions.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: SALT Projects, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

With thanks to Tony Tomaz from SALT Projects who lead a tour yesterday out in Massey, Auckland of a 3 house subdivision he has recently completed using old relocated houses selected to fit in with existing housing typology in the area.

We first learnt of Tony’s work through a Subdivision NZ group we participate in administered by Kirsty Merriman. We were privileged to also have her in attendance at yesterday tour.

Thanks to everyone who turned up to view this "Redevelop to rent" model.

#relocatetorent #resilientsustainablehealthy #allinAotearoa #connectcollaboratecommunity #whereindustryandinsightmeet

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Innovation Series Webinar - Housing Delivery System (HDS)

With thanks to Matthew Hulett, General Manager Delivery Transformation at member Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities, who spoke yesterday on the organisation’s Housing Delivery System (HDS) – a new innovative approach to planning and building houses. Its about a new way of working together that’s interdisciplinary and collaborative and more akin to the approach taken with alliancing type models on infrastructure with one team in the room together working collectively. Huge level of interest with over 80 registered to hear what he had to say.

This was just one of many sessions in our 2024 Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ series “Innovation In Housing : Thinking that’s outside the box!”

View post here.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Ockham’s Manaaki Apartments, Tāmaki Makaurau

With thanks to the team from Ockham Residential for our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Tour of the Manaaki Apartments, in Onehunga, Tāmaki Makaurau last Friday afternoon. 
 
A great chance to hear about what the team there have billed as “a little bit of Miami in Onehunga”. The pastel colours of the low maintenance bricks that make up the facades, were inspired by Mediterranean colour schemes and the design also informed by clean fresh art deco exemplars from post-earthquake Napier. 
 
We were hosted by William Deihl, Chief Executive, Ockham Residential Residential and Tania Wong, Head of Architecture, who both spoke before taking us on a guided tour of a range of typologies from different parts of the development, all with slightly different outlooks and features. A great use of borrowed views from parklands and maunga adjacent to the site and in the middle distance. Carparking well managed on site leaving a central residents courtyard containing very pleasant planting scheme, decks and paved areas, with a residents pool adjacent to a large residents lounge where we were hosted. The site well located within walking distance of the Onehunga railhead and Maungakiekie just up the hill.

Sustainability and hassle-free durability were at the core of the project brief. Apartments typically require less energy than standalone homes. The brick façade is (almost) zero maintenance and has excellent thermal properties. Manaaki is gorgeous to look at, but also practical, durable and built to last.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington Anniversary Breakfast

An excellent start to the year for members and friends of the organisation in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington at our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Anniversary Breakfast held yesterday morning at the Botanic Gardens in Wellington. 

Inspirational speakers, Vida Christeller from Wellington City Council and Helmut Modlik from Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira, talked about their future vision for this region. Common themes included connection between people (through well-designed public realm and transport), between people and place/Papatūānuku- the objective being urban form that enhances human wellbeing and cares for and accommodates the natural world (especially water). Helmut invited professionals working across the space to creatively apply their technical competencies so as to dance lightly and respectfully across delivery of “the job”.  A message that resonated as one of our main drivers as an organisation is to bring different parts of the development ecosystem together to better partner and collaborate on the outcomes. 

With thanks to our fabulous speakers and also those who gave up time from their working day to attend yesterday's event and contribute to some great conversations between attendees in the networking slots before and after the official speakers. Thanks too to Paul and the team at Picnic Cafe for seamless delivery of the event (the cheese scones fresh from the oven were pretty good!) 

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre, Ōtautahi Christchurch

Special thanks to Cameron McLean, Rau Paenga Limited Project Manager for hosting the Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Series Tour of Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre in Ōtautahi Christchurch last Friday morning.

Parakiore, an important piece of community infrastructure is being delivered by Rau Paenga and constructed by CPB Contractors for the eventual owner, Christchurch City Council. It is poised to become the largest aquatic and indoor recreation facility of its kind in New Zealand. The facility boasts impressive features, including a 50-meter, 10-lane competition swimming pool, a separate diving pool, a spacious aquatic leisure area, five hydroslides, fitness spaces, and nine indoor courts for sports like netball, volleyball, and basketball. Designed to meet the needs of recreational, educational, and high-performance sporting communities, as well as the broader community, Parakiore is currently approximately 70% complete.

Despite the intricacies of the ongoing construction, we were fortunate to explore the site, and it is evident that this facility will be a valuable asset to #Christchurch and #Canterbury. Once again, our gratitude goes to our host, Cameron McLean of Rau Paenga.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Anniversary Breakfast

We were delighted to kick off our 2024 Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Events program with our Auckland Regional Anniversary Breakfast where we heard from city leaders Nick Sautner of Eden Park, New Zealand and Dean Kimpton of Auckland Transport on what would make a difference for the future of Tāmaki Makaurau. A great turnout. We sold out and even had some attendees (and some manu!) that hadn’t registered turn up on the day. A good inspirational start to the year as well as the chance to reconnect with colleagues across the sector so shortly after the return to the office.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Te Kaha Multi-Use Arena, Ōtautahi Christchurch

With thanks to Kent Summerfield, Christchurch City Council Project Manager and the team from BESIX Watpac for yesterday afternoon's Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Series Tour of Te Kaha Multi-Use Arena, Ōtautahi Christchurch.
 
The name Te Kaha is rooted in resilience. Te Kaharoa meaning enduring strength, was gifted by Ngai Tuahuriri to name the land where Te Kaha stands as a symbol of both the region’s past and future.
 
The scale of the structure is really impressive and the stadium will be 50m at its highest point once complete. Due to the geotechnical conditions there are over 9000 linear piers (piles) supporting the site.
 
The construction involves a complex process of transitioning between temporary works that provide seismic protection, to the permanent structure and then installing the roof once the permanent structure is complete.
 
This is a design-construct lump sum contract and will be completed in April 2026. 
 
The project budget is $683.2M. The stadium will accommodate 30,000 spectators, but can be used for smaller events using a curtain partition to accommodate 13800 people. Most of the roof is made from ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) which is supported by a lightweight structure – this is a clear roof used also in the Forsyth Bar Stadium in Dunedin. This allows 95% of UV to come through – areas of the ground without light penetration will have ground lights. Apparently EFTE is also fire proof and tests in Dunedin described it as ‘self-extinguishing’.
 
The current works are limited to the site and separate to the public realm and streetscape that leads to the stadium. We will be interested to see how the council develops this urban realm in the future.  
 
We were very lucky to get a look around the site given the tight timeframes and activity on sight.

Thank you again to our hosts:
- Kent Summerfield, Christchurch City Council
- Mark Noonan, Christchurch City Council
- Adrian Jones, BESIX Watpac

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Ōtautahi Christchurch Anniversary Breakfast

With thanks to Andrew Parrish, from Environment Canterbury and EKiN SAKIN from Christchurch City Council for coming and speaking at our Special Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Waitaha/Canterbury Regional Anniversary Breakfast yesterday morning.

Andrew gave an overview of how regional policy and the strategic regional-wide planning framework has evolved over the years. He helped us understand the importance of policy being formed, amongst other things, through collaboration with the local community. This ensures policy is formed with a strong understanding of what the community needs and wants helping shape and grow the region over the short, medium and long term. He prompted us all particularly policy makers to consider technology, and to be mindful of how communities change and evolve over time.

Ekin activated our understanding of what we all understand makes Ōtautahi Christchurch unique and a city to be celebrated, from her perspective of an urbanist. She encouraged us all to consider the roles of the public and private sector, and the opportunities that are unlocked when we collaborate, share our insights, learnings and best practice. Ōtautahi Christchurch is the city of opportunity and she challenged us to consider what legacy we are all leaving that will shape this city for generations to come.

The breakfast went so well that the conversation and collaboration continued well last the end of the event at the Foundation Café - Tūranga Christchurch Public Library post event!!

To view photos of the event click HERE.

COURSE: Deciphering Development for Professionals Course

We’re pleased to advise that over November we have run three Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Deciphering Development courses - two private sessions with public sector organisations in the Wellington Region and one public session in Auckland Region. Great to see organisations and individuals investing in their staff and helping them better understand what makes developments stack up for different types of developers and why. With thanks to those from our Board who have delivered and participated in these sessions and, in relation to our Auckland-based session to UDINZ member Simpson Grierson who kindly hosted the course.
 
We're proposing another public course in late February early March. Please indicate your interest by joining our waiting list via the link in comments below. Let us know where you are located or willing to travel to as we will run the course as soon as we have sufficient interest (usually 20 persons) in any of Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Macro-economic Update with CoreLogic November 2023

With thanks to Nick Goodall Chief researcher at Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Research Partner CoreLogic NZ (accompanied by colleague Jonathan Chang) for insights delivered at our recently Macroeconomic Update (the third in a three part Auckland series kindly hosted by Beca.)

So what did Nick have to say?

We have seen the end of the downturn but there still some stress in the market. Volumes have bottomed out. Buyers are re-emerging, but not consistently.

Value growth is muted and inconsistent across NZ , with Wellington and Dunedin and regional NZ taking longer to return than other centres.

Uncertainty from protracted coalition talks means lower sales volumes may continue into the New year.

First home buyers still transitioning away from renting with help of various levers and interestingly their share of the overall volumes (not the number of them) has actually increased.

In the Auckland market the outlying areas are performing better than the inner suburbs

Building consents are reducing. Conversions of consents to new dwellings built are considered to be around 37,000 across NZ and 16,000 in Auckland. Were still in mass deficit even in our largest cities as a result of significant underbuilding over time.

Cost to build not getting cheaper with labour costs making up over 50% but some supply chain easing meaning pace of cost increases have reduced.

Investors haven't been as active but were not seeing investors fleeing market either (particularly those with multiple properties). Loosened LVRs remain an important lever.

Into the future key points:
- The downturn is over, but don’t expect values to take off again.
- Affordability is stretched
- Investors are challenged and not all of that will be fixed by a changing govt;
- Volatility could continue to be a feature into 2024.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Innovation Series Webinar - Construction 4.0

With thanks to Dr Troy Coyle from HERA who delivered the first webinar in our new Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ series “Innovation in Housing: Thinking that’s outside the box!”

The series will showcase, via online and in person events, a range of new ways of working that improve the way we work and how and what we deliver.

This session was on “Construction 4.0: An Industry 4.0 transformation of the Construction Sector in Aotearoa New Zealand”. Troy explained what Construction 4.0 is, how it will improve sectoral productivity, and what preparation the sector needs to undertake in order to be ready for this transformation. She also explained a uniquely local consideration around how to best integrate and embedded Mātauranga Māori interfaces with technology requirements.

As the four year research program (covering data standardisation, circular design, smart construction, monitoring 4.0, tech transfer, sustainable futures) progresses we will touch back in to get a progress update.

Thanks Troy for your time in preparing for and delivering the session.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Willis Lane, Wellington

With thanks to Michael Sweetman from Precinct Properties and Zoltan Bokany from Beca for last week's Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Series Tour of Willis Lane in Wellington.

Willis Lane is at the underground heart of Wellington’s Golden Mile.

Constructed beneath the iconic AON Centre tower–once the tallest building in New Zealand–this dining & entertainment precinct occupies a network of tunnels and walkways in the CBD. These historic subterranean spaces beneath Willis Street were built to protect shoppers from the harsh weather and traffic on the streets above.

A network of stairs, escalators and walkways connects Willis Lane to the outside world, including directly to other buildings such as the Old Bank Arcade.

With thanks to all those involved in guiding the tour.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Three Kings, Auckland

With thanks to Steven Evans and the team from Fletcher Living for yesterday afternoon's Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Series Tour of their Three Kings Development and what a project it is!
 
The tour started at the Fletcher Living Three Kings Sales Suite - which overlooks the former quarry that has been infilled with over 2 million cubic meters of dirt. Another 5 years to go to complete the project that will offer a range of housing typologies – terrace housing, apartments and a handful of stand-alone houses. An interesting development in that roofscape was top of mind when designing the housing to ensure that when looking down into the development that there was an attractiveness to the outlook. The price points for this new housing will likely range between $650K- $2.5mil.
 
Thank you to our Fletcher Living speakers:
- Aidan Donnelly for welcoming us with delicious food.
- James Crews for your overview of the development.
- Heather B for your overview of the design & demographic target of the Caldera Apartments.
- Sarah Beaumont for your overview of the design & demographic target of the Terrace Homes.

With thanks to all those involved in guiding the tour especially Fletcher Living Natalia L. for a smooth delivery of the tour.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Wynyard Quarter, Auckland

We were pleased the sun decided to join us on our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Series Walking Tour of the Wynyard Quarter yesterday.
 
The tour started at the Karanga Plaza Kiosk - which represents the beginnings and foundations of Wynyard Quarter (see pictures below for the full route) and ended at the Silos with some discussion around the future shape of Wynyard Point including the headland park. It was then on to the Good George for a well-deserved cold beverage and further Q&A.
 
Great to see how the wider Eke Panuku team and their consultants and partners had looked at how to retain elements of the original uses of the area in their design concepts, included the intertidal nature of this area in laneway designs, created a series of strong wayfinding axis and ensured they prioritised the activation of ground floor frontages with their design choices around transport. Some spectacular choices in the design, functionality and resilience of the area. The integrated inclusion of Toi Māori elements was also notable.
 
With thanks to all those involved in guiding the tour especially Eke Panuku Development Auckland Gyles Bendall, Maria Kowalczyk-Walker and Bridget Law (and our unofficial guide James Ring from Beca ).

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: O.M.C. Apartment Block, Auckland

With thanks to the team from Kalmar Construction Limited for yesterday afternoon's Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Summer Site Tour of the O.M.C. (Onehunga Mall Club) - a development by Lamont & Co. The O.M.C is an excellent example of a transit-oriented development that also involves elements of urban regeneration (the site was a former working men’s club with the unique façade referencing the old Axminster carpet pattern from that old club).

We loved the variety of 1 and 2 bedroom apartment configurations in the 8 Story development (a podium with two street frontages one with a brick facade mirroring the existing historic Onehunga mall facades). Incredible views out over the surrounding areas (in some cases multiple different aspects within the same property) to the north, east, south and west - with a lot to see. As well as established heritage urban streetscapes in the foreground, there were stunning maunga views in the distance in three directions (Maungakiekie, Mangere and Maungarei) and moody views out to the heads of the Manukau Harbour in the fourth direction. Great local amenity with the library, recreation and community centre across the road. A supermarket and local retail minutes away, excellent public transport (a train station down the road and a bus stop literally at the back door of the block) and SH20 a minutes' drive away down the hill. A development incredibly well placed with the isthmus.

After the tour Kalmar kindly hosted attendees for refreshments on the terrace at local gastropub the Good Home (itself formerly the local library building) with good views back at the development at the top of the rise. With thanks again to our main Kalmar host Justin and also to Brendon, Ross, Donovan and Clifford (architect) who respectively guided groups of attendees around the development.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

SUMMER SITE TOUR SERIES: Kāinga Ora's Large Scale Projects

We were pleased with the great Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ member turnout at our Summer Site Tour Series event on Friday 15 September visiting three of Kāinga Ora's large scale project sites across the Auckland region.

Given considerable interest in this event we will be repeating the tour at the beginning of 2024. Do reach out to us to be added to the waiting list for this event.

First stop was the KO Information Centre at Waddon Place, Mangere where those on the tour heard from various speakers and we then bussed to Bader Drive and Ventura Street, Māngere and did a walk around examining a range of typologies (including the award winning passive house development).

Then it was off to the Roskill Information Centre in May Road, Mt Roskill where attendees enjoyed an early lunch while they heard from development managers on the various precincts that make up the Roskill/Waikowhai/Ōwairaka/Mt Albert developments. We enjoyed a walk in and around Freeland Reserve and did a bus tour around the streets that border the Murray Halberg Park on the edge of the new revamped Oakley Creek/ Te Auaunga Awa ecological park.

The final stop was the Northcote development off Lake Road, with stops at the outdoor area just within the main entrance area and also at Te Ara Awataha and Te Kaitaka, Greenslade Reserve.

The scale of the work being undertaken, consideration of stormwater and day lighting of streams, amenity value and resident wellbeing, as well as connection to public and active transport options were impressive. The inclusion of private sector players and models of development, including prefabricated modular construction, did indeed show different ways of addressing and meeting housing demand.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Keep a look out on another tour of this Kāinga Ora's large scale project in March 2024.

UDINZ / UDF / ACF Breakfast - Designing for the Human Life Cycle in a Time of Climate Uncertainty”

We at Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ were delighted to run a breakfast on Friday 8 September alongside Urban Design Forum NZ as part of the Auckland Climate Festival program. The event was entitled “Designing for the Human Life Cycle in a Time of Climate Uncertainty” and we considered Urban form from the perspective of the human experience of the built environment across the life cycle.

Some common themes across the speakers about the benefits of connection with Te Taiao and each other and the ability to explore and learn from our surroundings. Enriched experiences and greater resilience achieved where we connect strongly with people and place. The value of enduring partnerships over time also emphasised.

With thanks again to our Speakers:

Tom Irvine (CE of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Rawa);
Alex Bonham (Waitemata Local Board member, doctoral graduand and author of Play and the City);
Andrew Mein (Auckland Transport)
Emma Todd (Boffa Miskell Limited)

and to Michelle Kennedy from Auckland Climate festival for joining us.

To view photos of the event click HERE.

Densification Series

We ran a series of densification events recently in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland partnering with members Simpson Grierson and Aurecon. You can access the link to presentation used at the last of these events HERE.

To view photos of the Wellington event click HERE.
To view photos of the Christchurch event click HERE.
To view photos of the Auckland event click HERE.

Our Future Urban Form -TāmakiMakaurau and the FDS

On 19 July Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ gathered together a group to discuss this all important topic in a town hall debate kindly hosted by Bell Gully.

We heard about:

• the need for more deliberate engagement & consultation with a more diverse range of views (including public and private sector, mana whenua and communities) some suggesting we restart the process to allow for just that, with a much longer consultation period;

• the importance of including those delivering housing who understand where latent capacity can be converted (using private capital) into housing;

• the need to have consumer choice -not everyone wants the same location & housing typology;

• the NPS-UD was originally intended to enable densification through flexible zoning in traditionally single dwelling zoned areas to enable people based choice about living closer to the city (with amenity and transport links) – but that somehow this intent became conflated with a message of “densification only and no greenfields”;

• the incorrect assumptions made about infrastructure capacity & cost of delivery and who bears that cost. DCS and IGCs and the nuances must be noted;

• the funding issues for local govt being at the heart of this and a problem we need to solve (GST hypothecation may be an answer?);

• the need to acknowledge those within Councils trying to do the right thing;

• its hard reconciling all we need our whenua to do (Alec's "space") - including recreation; food security, wellbeing;

• the need to think big picture & long term about future needs including our mokopuna and their mokopuna;

• the organic nature of urban a reality that needs the support of planners;

• Long linear settlement patterns not necessarily being a bad thing - poly centric and multi nodal settlement along a single axis could be very efficient given Auckland geography. "Golden Triangle" may be bigger than we thought;

• the need to be thinking too about economic alignment & business/industrial hubs (some tragic misalignment with Gregs case study);

• previous planning tools and frameworks having grappled with many of the same concepts. We just don't seem to have learned from that.

❗The call to action: submit on the FDS and be heard (less than 9 days to run until the (current) consultation closes)❗

Check out photos from the event HERE
A recording of the session can be located HERE
And a copy of the PowerPoint pack found HERE

Realising the potential transformation opportunities of the Auckland Light rail project

We were pleased to be able to be able to run an UDINZ Developers breakfast kindly hosted by new member KPMG New Zealand yesterday, 22 June. Speakers from Auckland Light Rail Fran Wilde, Cameron Law and Ruth Stokes spoke to the topic "Realising the potential transformation opportunities of the Auckland Light rail project".
It was great to get an update on progress with the project, station placement and the areas ripe for development.

See more HERE

Winter webinar series

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Harnessing AI and Innovative Tools for Property and Urban Development Professionals

Winter Webinar series is proudly sponsored by Tuatahi First Fibre
Zoom webinar held on 9 May 2023, 12.30-1.30pm presented by Daniel Kinnoch from CoLab Planning.
View Daniel Kinnoch’s presentation HERE
View the webinar HERE

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Hardware, Software and Wetware; building digital capability in our existing workforce

Winter Webinar series is proudly sponsored by Tuatahi First Fibre
Zoom webinar held on 23 May 2023, 12.30-1.30pm presented by Fee Webby, General Manager of academyEX.
View the webinar HERE

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Intelligence not information – an overview of Toitū Te Whenua LINZ’s work joining-up New Zealand’s property and geospatial infrastructure

Winter Webinar series is proudly sponsored by Tuatahi First Fibre
Zoom webinar held on 6 June 2023, 12.30-1.30pm presented by Ben Reilly of Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand.
View the webinar HERE

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Citizen perspectives on future spaces: a use case for augmented reality

Winter webinar series is proudly sponsored by Tuatahi First Fibre
Zoom webinar held on 13 June 2023, 12.30-1.30pm presented Beca’s Matt Wheeler and Henry Seaton
View the webinar HERE

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Harnessing The Power Of 3D Site Capture And Drone Technology

Winter Webinar series is proudly sponsored by Tuatahi First Fibre
Zoom webinar held on 27 July 2023, 12.30-1.30pm presented by Isaac Mui, Context Architects
View the webinar HERE

Wellington Development Pipeline

Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

It was a full house last Thursday evening 25th May at our Development Pipeline event focusing on the Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington region.
 
The event was kindly cohosted by Simpson Grierson at their offices at HSBC Tower 195 Lambton Quay, Wellington.
 
The speakers included: 
➡ Carra Hamon Pou Ohanga (Chief Economic Development Officer) of TOA Development
➡ Alan Blundell General Manager – Developments at @TOA Developments;
➡ Steve McColl and Michael Pike Senior Development Managers at Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities and 
➡ Ian Cassels of the Wellington Development Company, L.L.C. Company. 
 
Make sure you’re in the room at the next event.

Auckland Development Pipeline & Special Green Finance Insights Session

View the presentation HERE
Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

We were delighted Tuesday 4 April evening with attendance at our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ Auckland Development Pipeline event held at the offices of cohost Simpson Grierson at 88 Shortland Street, Auckland.

We heard from the following developers representing a range of typologies- high rise apartment blocks in the inner suburbs adjacent to transport links, "missing middle" developments inside and adjacent to master planned areas; social build to rent developments in regional New Zealand and an investor buying into existing housing stock rented to Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children to support vulnerable children and their caregivers. We heard from: 

• Frank Xu Executive Project Manager, SHUNDI GROUP NZ on Te Tauoma;

• Gareth Pasfield, Planning & Development Manager, Jalcon Homes on Morgan & Midgely, Orion Point and other developments;

• Sam Wallace Managing Director, Soho Group Limited NZ on regional development initiatives

• Roy Thompson Managing Director, New Ground Capital on Homes for Tamariki;

There were some common themes of developments rooted in location and natural environment, resident wellbeing, sustainability and taking account of Te Ao Māori considerations in concept and design.  We also included a Special Green Finance Insights Session at the start of the event where we heard from:

• Andrew Eagles and Matthew Cutler-Welsh of NZGBC on compelling range of reasons (including preferential finance and market palatability) given for getting on board with Greenstar and Homestar. 

  With sincere thanks to our co-hosts Simpson Grierson, sponsor NZGBC, all our fabulous speakers not to mention the members of the development community that turned up ready to listen, connect and learn.

EBOSS Supply Chain Update

Held on Wednesday 22 March, 2023
Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ were delighted, in conjunction with member Context, to hold an EBOSS Supply chain update yesterday evening. At this event managing director Matthew Duder gave attendees an advance peek into the insights from the latest EBOSS's Construction Industry Supply Chain Report (yet to be published).

The report measures the changes in supply conditions, with updates on lead times, pricing and issues impacting the domestic supply of building materials. The report, and conclusions discussed at yesterday evenings event, will be publicly released on 5 April at which point they will be more generally shared. Watch this space!

Both this event and the CoreLogic NZ event we ran last week at Beca are designed to give members insights into what are shaping up to be challenging market conditions. Great anecdotal information available also from those assembled in the room which included a mix of developers, architects and other creatives, quantity surveyors, building products and digital product suppliers and representatives of crown agencies.

Thanks again for the team at Context for their hospitality and for giving us the chance to have a look around their studio. It's located in a refurbished industrial building on the city fringe at 326 New North Road, Kingsland- the former Bridgens and Company Shoe factory constructed by Fletcher Construction Company in the late 1920s from reinforced concrete. It's a fascinating area. The building opposite is the distinctive Kiwi Bacon building which has also undergone refurbishment into a premium character office space.

Macro-economic Update with CoreLogic

Held on Thursday 16 March 2023
Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

UDINZ were delighted, in conjunction with Beca, to host the first of three Macro Economic updates involving Nick Goodall head researcher at CoreLogic NZ last week. After an excellent setting of the scene by Tracey Haszard of Beca, we heard from Nick.

His key messages were as follows:

• Reserve Bank sticking to their guns on the OCR changes despite Gabrielle. This at the very least provided consistency and shows they see inflation as still being our main concern. 

• Residential sales are at rock bottom levels (not seen this low since 1983)

• Property values still falling and likely have a bit further to go given previous patterns (but off really big rises, so perceptions still ok)

• Total residential listings high, but new listings low. Lots of stale stock. Regionally, Auckland tighter

• First home buyers are still prominent, including on new builds. Mortgaged house investors lower in some areas because can’t make it stack up at these rates

• Prices of bare land are still holding up

• The cliff from fixed to floating doesn’t seem to be having the catastrophic effect predicted (yet). 50% come off in next 12 months

• LVRs are tight. Less on interest only than you’d expect and although banks provisioning for Bad debts, they still remain under control at this stage

• Unemployment may be our biggest risk

• Keep an eye too on net migration and be aware new arrivals tend to arrive via main cities and remain renters for a period

• Look forward to the second half of the “year of two halves” when things hopefully look a bit better (but continue to keep a close eye on the aftermath of Gabrielle).

The above not nearly as colourful as Nicks delivery which, as always, was a pleasure. Make sure you’re in the room for the follow-on sessions in the three part series sponsored by Beca.
These are tentatively scheduled for: 
🗓    20 July 2023
🗓    16 November 2023

UDINZ Summer Site Tour - Mt Cook, Wellington

Held on Tuesday 7 March 2023
Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

We were delighted to have such a great turnout at our Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ walking tour in Mt Cook, Wellington held earlier this week (Tuesday 7 March).

The tour commenced on Rolleston Street, at the construction site entrance to a large Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities 80 apartment development currently under construction by Hawkins. This is due to be delivered in approximately six months and is still a working site. In a study of contrasts, we also visited a small one of four, two-bedroom townhouse development just around the corner.

Both projects have needed to have a contextually appropriate design solution to the character nature of Mt Cook. Both have also had to consider parking ratios and demands prior to the introduction of the NPS-UD that removed the minimum standards. Both are great Urban Development examples of regeneration in a city fringe neighbourhood.

The tour concluded back at the offices of our event hosts Solari Architects for discussion and refreshments. With thanks to James Solari our Wellington Chapter chair and the very able Keryn Young for pulling this event together.

Summer Site Tours - Westlight Mixed Tenure

Held on Thursday 2 March 2023
Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

With thanks for Home in Place for hosting us last week (Thursday 2nd March 5pm) for the Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ summer site tour to the Westlight mixed tenure development in Glen Eden.

Developed by the Ted Manson Foundation in partnership with Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga - Ministry of Housing and Urban Development NZ, this development provides 163 homes for Community housing residents, affordable Kiwibuild homes, as well as market homes for sale and rent.

Three groups of attendees ( those that came by train, despite warnings about delays on the western line, made up most of the first group) were taken on a tours of two towers and the seven townhouses before enjoying a talk from Homes in Places NZ CEO Christopher Trypas and Bernadette Pinnell over refreshments in the communal area up on the podium. Great views of the city and the Waitākere ranges from the development. Thanks too to those from our board in attendance.

 From red, yellow or white … to green for go

Zoom webinar held on Monday 27 February 2023
Watch the webinar HERE

Online webinar where John Gardiner and Louise Swann discussed options for when you are in a sticky situation. As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle and other related catastrophic weather events, we have seen a rash of recent buildings being red, yellow or white “placarded”. When are the placards warranted and when are they not. It's a delicate balance and safety must always prevail, but there may not always be agreement on where the line is drawn.

Watch to hear the technicalities around that initial placarding process, and the ways to "de-placard" your building when your engineering or geotechnical advice suggests the approach may have been too cautious. The session will also the implications in the medium and long term for your building or project from various approaches.

Inaugural UDINZ event Ōtepoti Dunedin

Held on Monday 20 February 2023
Visit our LinkedIn page to view photographs from the event HERE

We were delighted to hold our inaugural Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ event in Ōtepoti Dunedin yesterday evening kindly cohosted at Gallaway Cook Allan Lawyers and supported also by the team from Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities.

Urban Development Institute of New Zealand UDINZ CEO Adrienne L. Miller and Dunedin local, and national UDINZ Board member, Kerrie Young spoke about UDINZ and its plans to establish an Otago Southland chapter in Dunedin and third term Councillor, Jim OMalley Chair of the Infrastructure Committee and Hearings Committee (amongst others) at Dunedin City Council spoke about urban development and growth across the city, the constraints posed by existing infrastructure, challenges of the future including climate change and positive net immigration. The role of the city and the rural urban interplay was also discussed as well as the impact of the current reform agenda - RMA and Three waters.

Attendees enjoyed networking over drinks and nibbles at Gallaway Cook Allan's fabulous offices at 123 Vogel Street, Dunedin in a refurbished warehouse area – itself an urban regeneration story.

Special Regional Anniversary Breakfast: “The Art of the Future”

Held on Wednesday 25 January, 7.45am at Auckland Art Gallery, 1 Kitchener Street, Auckland CBD
A fantastic turnout to our UDINZ Special Auckland Anniversary breakfast: “The Art of the Future” held at the cafe at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

We’re keen to make this an annual event where we take a look at critical issues that will shape our city into the future.

With thanks to our fabulous speakers Michael Roth of Auckland Council and Graeme Gunthorp of Auckland Transport and to the wonderful staff at the venue who made sure our attendees (leaders from across the urban development landscape) were well fed and caffeinated.

UDINZ Innovation in Finance series

Held on Thursday 27 October, 2022 at Kāinga Ora Newmarket, 107 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland
View the presentations HERE

This was the first event in a UDINZ Innovation in Finance series, looking at financial models that are making housing accessible in Aotearoa New Zealand. Much has been written by academics and journalists on Affordable Housing being a ‘Wicked Problem’ where the solutions are seen as too complex and contested to be resolved. However, there are a few kiwi organisations who have devised innovative ways of solving the problem of housing affordability and accessibility.

In particular, shared ownership or equity schemes are giving more people access to homes they otherwise would not be able to get into. Presenters included:

• Dominic Foote - Housing Foundation are synonymous with delivering affordable housing in New Zealand since 1971, assisting lower income renting households into home ownership. Their pioneering Shared Ownership - Programme provides an opportunity for people to buy a majority share in a property.

• Jason Lovell - Kāinga Ora launched its ‘First Home Partner’ scheme in 2021 to help people into home ownership via a shared ownership scheme, providing an accessible path to home ownership for people struggling to save a deposit.

• Tim Symons - Brightlight Group are impact investors whose Community Infrastructure Strategy galvanises impact capital to help transform communities.

This event was generously sponsored by:

Webinar: NPS – UD: Future Development Strategies (FDS)

Held on Wednesday 5 October, 4pm
UDINZ presented a webinar briefing on the upcoming Future Development Strategies (FDS) required by Councils as part of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD). A future development strategy (FDS) is required to be prepared for all major cities across New Zealand and will form the basis for future integrated, strategic and long-term planning. An FDS helps local authorities set the high-level vision for accommodating or limiting urban growth over the long term, and identifies strategic priorities to inform other development-related decisions, such as infrastructure funding.

Local authorities will use their FDS to: 

• set a high-level approach for achieving well-functioning urban environments 

• specify how and where they will provide sufficient development capacity to meet future growth needs over the next 30 years 

• set out the development infrastructure and additional infrastructure required and how to integrate planning decisions with infrastructure and funding decisions.

The FDS has the potentially significant implications for the growth of cities, particularly in major cities such as Auckland as all plan changes will be legally required to have regard to this strategic direction.  While Councils are required to consult on an FDS under the Local Government Act,  the ability to influence any significant changes is relatively limited post notification, therefore, proper early engagement prior to notification by the industry is vital.  

Barker and Associates lead the presentation.

Wellington’s Development Pipeline

Held on Tuesday 20 September, at Kumutoto Function centre, Dual Taniwha Room, 10 Waterloo Quay, Pipitea, Wellington

Three leading CBD development / construction companies provide the scoop on what is happening next on Wellington's skyline – and see potential spinoff opportunities for the rest of the sector. Presentations from David McGuiness from Willis Bond, Craig Stewart from Stratum and Amy Kearse from Let’s Get Wellington Moving. UDINZ sees this as an opportunity for it members to be first to hear about potential projects which may have spinoff opportunities for the wider urban development sector.

CoreLogic update on recent economic & property market trends

8 May, 16 July & 9 December 2020, 31 March, 21 June 2021
CoreLogic's latest updates on economic and property market trends and the details behind the well-publicised strength, publicity and politics of the property market.

16 July 2020 - Please click HERE for the presentation.
To listen to the Audio from the Webinar, please click HERE.

9 December 2020 - Please click HERE for the presentation.

21 June 2021 - Please click HERE for the presentation.
To listen to the Audio from the Webinar, please click HERE.

Auckland’s Development Pipeline

This in-person event was held on Thursday 18th August at Simpson Grierson offices in the city and featured presentations from some of Auckland’s leading land and residential developers on their pipeline of projects coming up in Auckland.

• Fletcher Living – Steve Evans, CEO

• Universal Homes – Andrew Crosby, CEO

• Hugh Green Group – Pat Gavaghan, General Manager Property & Development

• The Neil Group – Phil Ainsworth, CEO

• Ockham Residential – William Deihl, Deputy CEO

Webinar: Supply Chain series update

Held on 15 September, 4pm via Zoom webinar

Matthew Duder, GM of EBOSS. Following on from his presentation in March, Matthew presented the latest market insights from the Q3 2022 EBOSS Construction Industry Supply Chain Report. Matthew covered key data from leading building material suppliers on current cost escalation, lead times, pricing implications, capacity constraints and projections on pricing forecasts for the next 6 months.

John Bennett from CoreLogic also presented. As the manager of CoreLogic Australia/New Zealand costing division, John C Bennett brings more than 35 years of industry expertise to the company, providing unrivalled insights and estimating experience that supports and services the construction, insurance and finance industries. Passionate about building, construction and property, John began his professional career as an architect of high-end residential homes before he expanded his skillset, moving onto commercial projects in Australia and internationally.

After founding his own building company, he spent a decade employing a team of specialist tradespeople, completing dozens of high-quality prestige renovations. Since 2015, John has managed a team of eight researchers, running the ruler over the raw cost of building materials, estimated labour constants, material costs and plant requirements, replicating every component or action of a rebuild in our databases.

John and his team are responsible for providing the timely and validated rebuild data-driven cost estimates that powers Cordell Sum Sure, Commercial Calculator, Renovation Calculator and Cordell Platinum.

Webinar: Design Guide on Medium Density

Held on 10 August, 4pm via Zoom webinar

Plan, Design, Build and Built
In this webinar Guy covered what Medium Density Housing (MDH) means, why we need to do more, and do more in a better way. Topics covered included:

• The issues that arise during the planning and design phase - the real issues of MDH.

• The need for well-designed communities, not just buildings squeezed onto a site.

• The Urban Design issues around MDH.

• Good design is more important now than ever before.

• Building - Inter-Tenancy Walls, Inter-Tenancy Floors, External Facade Walls, Services and Roofing.

• What issues may arise and how they can be resolved.

• Industry Solutions where the product partners put forward their best solutions to a problem.

• Case Studies of successful MDH from around Aotearoa.

Webinar: Residential building outlook - where are things heading?

Held on Wednesday 3 August, 4pm via Zoom webinar

As the Head of CoreLogic’s Research Team, Nick takes advantage of the huge range of CoreLogic’s own unique datasets as well as publically available information to provide an easy to understand breakdown of the property market to a wide range of people in the industry. Nick looks beyond what you hear in the media and looks at the real things happening in the property market. This includes a fresh view on some of the public data as well as in-depth analysis of CoreLogic’s own unique datasets (including a refreshed Vulnerability Index) to provide a view you will never have seen before.

Webinar: When will it get here? Understanding the current state of the NZ Construction Supply Chain

Wednesday 23 March, 4-5pm

How long & how much?
Matthew Duder, GM of EBOSS, presented the latest market insights from the Q1 2022 EBOSS Construction Industry Supply Chain Report. Matthew covered key data from leading building material suppliers on current cost escalation, lead times, pricing implications, capacity constraints and projections on pricing forecasts for the next 6 months.

Managing sea & air freight - Delivering building materials and 320 Containers of Rapid Antigen Tests
Zane Morton, DHL GM - Global Freight & Forwarding, provided a global context to freight covering general trends influencing current operations, capacity and pricing. Zane also painted a picture of air & sea freight projects for 2022, and gave an update on vaccines & Rapid Antigen Test logistics.

Webinar: Housing Crisis – a bi-partisan solution. Do the benefits outweigh the costs??

Tuesday 30 November, 4pm
Watch the webinar recording HERE
Download Chris Crow’s presentation HERE
Download Kirdan Lee’s presentation HERE

This webinar discussed if the new Enabling Housing Supply legislation correlates with the already-new NPS-UD and its densification trajectory around key transport hubs. Minister Phil Twyford clarified what this all means, and how these two densification enablers work together and answered questions about the new legislation and what it will mean for urban development.

Our three contributors to the legislation translated the policies into plain English, and explained why, how and when these national policies will change the urban landscape in a suburb near you...

• Minister Phil Twyford - Associate Minister for the Environment

• Chris Crow - Urban Economist with PwC; and

• Dr Kirdan Lees - Economist with Sense Partners

UDINZ Webinar: What is a new house?

Thursday 25 November, 2021
Watch the webinar HERE
Download the presentation HERE

This webinar shedded light on interest tax deductibility, the changes to the Brightline test and a whole lot more, including:

• The definition of a new build.

• Tax rules and incentives / disincentives.

• Multiple owners and investor/ owner-occupier status.

• Renovations – when is an old house a new house?

• Application to apartments and medium density builds.

• Remediation and repurposing of existing buildings eg office buildings rezoned, apartments remediated – are these new houses?

• Keeping old parts of a dwelling, eg historic facades?

Thank you to our three expert speakers who discussed and explained recent changes to tax rules impacting the development community:

• Robyn Walker, Taxation Partner at Deloitte

• Chris Gillion, Tax Policy Lead at Inland Revenue; and

• Stephanie Watts, Senior Policy Advisor, Inland Revenue.

Supply Chain - cost escalation and pricing issues webinar

Well over one hundred UDINZ members across the country listened in to our webinar on Monday 18 October. Four panellists provided their perspectives on the implications of cost increases in the construction industry, supply chain frustrations and most importantly what you can do to ease the problem.

Matthew Duder opened the session with a review of a recent survey undertaken by EBOSS in collaboration with BRANZ; Kelvin Davidson from CoreLogic outlined the impact on the housing market; Shane Brealey provided a developers point of view; finally Steve Evans from Fletcher Living provided a solutions-based approach to the issue.

A recording of the webinar and copy of the presentation will be available here soon.

Construction Accord


Tuesday 10 August 2021, 12.30-1.30pm
The Accord creates a platform for industry and government to work together to meet some of the key challenges facing the sector including skills and labour shortages, unclear regulations, a lack of coordinated leadership, an uncertain pipeline of work and a culture of shifting risk. Judy Zhang, Director Accord Transformation Unit - Construction Sector Accord, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) leads the MBIE team which is delivering the Construction Sector Accord. The Accord is a partnership between government and industry to achieve a higher performing construction sector.

Wellington’s Development Pipeline

On Tuesday 3 August the Wellington chapter of UDINZ had a full house for a presentation on Wellington’s Development Pipeline. At the Kumutoto Function centre 125 people heard Dan McGuinness (L T McGuinness), Nick Clayton (Naylor Love), Kevin Pugh (Precinct Properties) and Stephen Cummings (McKee Fehl) outline their plans for the capital for the next few years. There was much lively discussion about the breadth and diversity of the plans which will see a major increase in activity in an already busy construction market. UDINZ Chair Fran Wilde said the pipeline event would become a regular annual fixture on the UDINZ calendar and members had ideas for other events in the near future.
Special thanks to our sponsors - Aurecon, Bell Gully, Greenwood Roche and Warren and Mahoney.

Deciphering Development

Our first Deciphering Development course was held by Andrew Crosby in Auckland on 21 July, 2021. Thanks to Tania Vela and Jason Lo for helping with the logistics. Thanks to Aidan Donnelly GM Development Fletcher Living for being our guest virtual presenter- for his perspective on what a consultant should deliver to their developer clients during due diligence.

Thanks to our visiting guest speaker Jasnish Gujral Managing Director and Nest or Invest Group for his first-hand experiences in looking at site feasibilities and investigating land acquisitions. And many thanks to all who attended. Also great to meet new people and today we have such a diverse range of development professionals. Capacity event and sorry to the long waiting list who missed out - this time.

Rezoning Ponsonby

On Thursday 17 June a UDINZ panel discussion Rezoning Ponsonby, was held at The Sapphire Room in Ponsonby, saw an expert panel address an urban development audience of approximately 130 people on the potential implications of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) on the traditionally single dwelling zoned villa-laden suburbs like Ponsonby.

The urban development community and many local residents’ associations attended. Many in the audience were unaware of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) which came into law in August 2020. The NPS-UD is central Government legislation that has the intent of densification in our main cities to meet population demand. It directs councils to modify their city plans to densify suburbs close to the city, where people want to live, and which are ‘super ripe’ for development in terms of transport links, walkable catchment areas, and demand.

“It is set to have a profound and transformational impact on the currently single dwelling zoned inner suburbs of Auckland and calls into question what will happen with the Unitary Plan’s current character overlays over whole suburbs”, says UDINZ board member and CEO of Universal Homes, Andrew Crosby, who moderated the panel discussion.

Speakers included Urban Economist at PwC Chris Crow, General Manager for Strategy at the NZ Infrastructure Commission Geoff Cooper, Auckland local councillor Pippa Coom, Leuschke Architects Director Colin Leuschke and Herne Bay 1011 Co-Chair Don Mathieson, representing local resident views.

We would like to thank our sponsors AV Jennings, Nest or Invest, Harrison Grierson, Universal Homes and Context for making this event possible.

Redevelopment of former Three Kings Quarry

UDINZ hosted a site visit at the Three Kings development on Monday 31 May which included a presentation at the Fickling Centre of the sites planning history, following by a summary of the current status and vision for the development. It was a great opportunity for attendees to understand the unique components of the project. The presentation was followed by a visit to the southern upper end of the development, where discussion about the site can continue. The Three Kings development is the one of the largest brownfield sites in the Auckland Central Isthmus. The site is approximately 6 km south of the Auckland CBD and will provide a new residential community of around 1,000 homes.

Seminar series: UDINZ - Solving the Housing Crisis Together

Seminar 3: Medium Density Housing - exemplar medium density housing Queensland style

The third seminar (webinar) in this series was held on Monday 28 June via Zoom. Josh Sondergeld from Stockland and Peter Egerton from the RPS Group presented their views on urban regeneration and master planned communities with specific reference to medium density housing.

Seminar 2: Densification - Achieving great outcomes for the city, occupants, neighbours and the community

The second seminar in this series was held on Thursday 20 May at Warren & Mahoney’s offices on Cable Street, Wellington. Panel discussion followed by Q & A and member discussion. Over 50 people attended this very successful event co-hosted with BRANZ and Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge. Facilitated by Dame Fran Wilde and presented by panelists, Kim Kelly, Wellington Regional Spatial Plan, Vida Christeller, WCC Wellington District Plan / Planning for Growth and Karen Witten, Massey Community Acceptance of Medium-Density Housing Developments.

Presentations from the seminar:

• Kim Kelly Wellington Regional Growth Framework

• Vida Christeller Densification

• Karen Witten Acclimatising to Density?

Seminar 1: How can we improve Wellington's housing design?

The first of 4 seminars was held in Wellington on Wednesday 28 April. The speakers discussed Wellington’s challenges and opportunities for medium-density housing design, how good design can deliver amenity and a high-quality lifestyle, what’s needed to improve Wellington’s housing and how Wellington’s draft Spatial Plan will facilitate improvement. Over 120 people attended this very successful event co-hosted with Solari Architects and supported by APL Window Solutions, Dulux, Woodspan, GIB. Many thanks to Bruce Johnson; James Solari, Managing Director, Solari Architects; Farzad Zamani, Design Review, Wellington City Council; Anna Wood, Urban Design Manager, Kāinga Ora; Craig Stewart, Director, Stratum Management. Photo’s courtesy of Solari Architects.

See further information about this event from Solari Architects HERE and Solari’s presentation HERE

Site Visit - West Hills

15 April, 1pm-3pm
68 Fred Taylor Drive, Westgate, Auckland (in front of shed)
Master Planned Projects

UDINZ thanks Pat Gavaghan from Hugh Green Group who joined Andrew Crosby from Universal homes to present an educational seminar on developing masterplanned communities followed by a site walk around completed and homes under construction at West Hills. Thanks to the 85 members and attendees.

Site Visit - Hobsonville Point

8 April, 3.30pm-4.30pm
Headquarters Building, 214 Buckley Ave, Hobsonville

A Return on Investment?

Understanding the relationship between social amenity, wellbeing and land values in Hobsonville Point. We invite you to join Kāinga Ora to discuss the findings on the research we undertook to evaluate the impact of the Kāinga Ora investment in social amenity at Hobsonville Point on resident wellbeing and land value. The presentation will begin with an introduction and background to Hobsonville Point and will then discuss the research and key lessons that we learned and can be applied to future projects. Following this, there will be an opportunity to visit a number of the existing and future social amenities that Hobsonville Point has to offer.

Site Visit & Panel Discussion - Westlight, Glen Eden

Wednesday 24 March, 5pm
Westlight Development, Glen Eden, Auckland

The new Westlight development in Glen Eden is an iconic example of transit urban development, adjacent to the Glen Eden train station. This unique development features 163 apartments and 6 townhouses with a podium and commercial units at street level. The development was created by the Ted Manson Foundation and constructed by UDINZ member CMP construction. It includes 163 dwellings including one and two bedroom apartments and townhouses.

It provides mixed tenure options for community housing; Kiwi build and market housing residents.  The site visit will include a tour of the building and a presentation from the Manson Foundation and CMP Construction team.

Consenting Workshops

Auckland 17 December 2020
Wellington 23 July 2020

Earlier this year we sought feedback from our members regarding practical changes to Council consent processes that would make a real difference to your business. We got some excellent feedback which called for Councils to be bold in their decision making, establish single points of contact and the need for consistency, pro-activity, seniority and certainty.

Following that feedback, UDINZ ran a workshop in Wellington with most of the TA's in the region together with representatives from the planning, development and architectural community. It proved to be a very useful two-way conversation - constructively airing obstacles and debating solutions.

Topics covered included:

• What is the culture needed to improve the 224c process?

• Who are the players affecting efficiency and where does their motivation lie- what can change that?

• How can we improve the consistency and quality of the documentation and submissions?

• Is self certification an answer?

• Insurance and risk aspects

• Practical council/CCO inspector/planner interpretation differences; and

• How to achieve better coordination between all the sign-off approval parties

• How do we promote or achieve better quality in the assets that are being vested?

A report on our findings will be issued to our members in early 2021.

Site Visit - Fletcher Living Panelisation Plant

30 November, 2020
232 Cavendish Drive, Wiri

Fletcher Living has successfully trialled New Zealand’s first quick-build of panelised terraced homes and duplexes. Fletcher Building’s Residential and Development Chief Executive and UDINZ Board Member, Steve Evans says: “We need to help meet the high demand for new homes by speeding up the house building process while maintaining quality and ensuring regulatory compliance. The time saving for a panelised home is significant.” “The use of integrated design software based on a Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach, efficient use of materials, and state of the art equipment all reduce the time to build, but also the material wastage. Transport to the site is also reduced – the home arrives in four or five consignments using purpose-built trailers and lifting gear.”

Greater Christchurch 2050 Workshop

25 November, 2020
Christchurch

UDINZ hosted a workshop which brought together a range of professionals to contribute to what Greater Christchurch could/should look like in 30 years time. Our members enjoyed hearing the opening remarks from Mayor Lianne Dalziel, Dawn Baxendale (Council CEO) and Katherine Snook – Project Lead for the Greater Christchurch Partnership. UDINZ intends hosting a number of follow up workshops enabling participants to discuss their ideas in more detail and to continue to provide input into the Plan.

Density Done Well Webinar

19 November, 2020
via ZOOM

Malcolm Middleton, Queensland Government Architect, presented residential design concepts and case studies that reflect how communities can thrive in our post Covid-19 world. Malcolm Middleton was appointed as Queensland Government Architect in July 2011 and in this role he is an advocate for the recognition of the value to all projects through well considered design processes.

Watch the webinar HERE or download Malcolm’s presentation HERE

Site Visit to Alfred Residences, Onehunga

29 October 2020
Alfred Residences, 93 Alfred Street, Onehunga

Jasnish Gujral, from Nest or Invest Group, recorded the issues and costs of mistakes as his team worked through their recently released contemporary 11-apartment Alfred Residences development – and the things he’d do differently next time.

From bank funding approvals to interest terms to the time you need to allow for resource and building consents, Jasnish talks to the good, bad and the ugly of developing in today’s complex environment.

Download Jasnish’s presentation HERE

Site Visit to Richmond Development

23 October 2020
Richmond, Mt Wellington

The master-planned development in Mt Wellington is being undertaken by Wilshire and  comprises 400 homes. At about 50% complete, and epitomising the vision of the Auckland unitary plan, Richmond is a live case study in urban development on a previous brownfield inner suburban city site.  Those on the visit heard some of the developer’s trade secrets: sale pricing, buyer demand profiles, adapting to a changing market (irrespective of the zoning allowances) community needs and amenity and solutions to different issues on site.

Election forum with Minister Phil Twyford

28 September 2020
Auckland

80 UDINZ members gathered in Auckland to hear Minister Twyford to outline his Government’s Policies - including the recently issued National Policy Statement on Urban Development.

Public Debate on the Future of the Wellington Central Library

1 September 2020

UDINZ Chair Fran Wilde facilitated a lively session in front of a full house who heard the ins and outs of demolishing or retaining/refurbishing the earthquake prone library, designed by Ian Athfield. This event was run jointly with the Wellington Civic trust.

Election Forum - Hon. Grant Robertson

11 August 2020

Aurecon Wellington hosted this successful event with the Hon Grant Robertson.  Grant fielded a wide variety of questions on urban development issues before being summoned to the Beehive for a critical meeting prior to the Government announcing a shift of level of our Covid-19 status.

Let’s Get Wellington Moving

19 August 2020

Andrew Body presented plans for the roll out of the LGWM programme. members asked some probing and insightful questions which helped the LGWM team better understand the urban development context within which the team works.

Webinar – review of Randerson Report on the RMA

 August 2020

Aurecon's Principal of Environment and Planning, Helen Hamilton, presented a webinar review of this 500 page document .

Meeting with Minister for Urban Development - Wellington

 18 March 2020

A keen group of UDINZ members met at Parliament on 18 March to hear Minister Twyford give an overview of recent Government initiatives that directly speak to improving the quality of urban development in New Zealand.

The Minister addressed three major planks: building capability in the state through the Ministry of Housing & Development; the establishment of Kainga Ora - the Government's housing delivery agent; and the Government's urban growth agenda - which includes consideration of innovative funding and financing of infrastructure projects, spatial planning that encourages growth and modernizing our cities through urban regeneration.

Meeting with Minister for Urban Development - Auckland

 29 January 2020

The first UDINZ event was held in Auckland on 29 January with guest speaker the Hon Phil Tywford, Minister for Urban Development, Economic Development and Transport. The Minister talked about the incredible power of cities, and outlined his vision for urban development, in particular focusing on Auckland. 

“The objective is to allow growth in cities and foster quality spaces to live, work and play.”

To achieve this, he said there are three changes in the way the new UD Ministry needs to function:

1. Regulate: Creating the right policy environment for private capital to invest.

2. Stimulate: The Ministry needs to be more entrepreneurial and active.

3. Communicate: Align people with the vision. Foster conversations around urban development and cities.

 See more information here: https://www.hud.govt.nz/urban-development/urban-growth-agenda