Oyster Capital first got involved in Drury in 2018. "At the time Kiwi Property was buying up land, Fulton Hogan was in a similar mode and we decided we should get on the same song sheet," says Wilson.
"We first secured the properties at Waihoehoe Rd in Drury. We had the property under control since late 2018 and had been working through it. Our business is essentially selling wholesale land to Fletcher Building. We purchase the land, go through the planning change process and deliver sections to them over time. They do the house building."
At about this time Oyster Capital started talking to Auckland Council.
The Council wasn't keen to move on developing the area as it was out of sequence with the Future of Urban Land Supply Strategy document, he says. That document sets out where and when the Council will spend its budget for infrastructure.
Wilson says this approach perfectly understandable. But it was hard to work with council at that stage out of sequence. "So we forged ahead on our own along with Fulton Hogan and Kiwi to come up with a master plan for what is probably one of the biggest comprehensive developments Auckland or New Zealand has ever seen. There is about 6000 household equivalents there; a mix of terraced housing and some small stand-alone houses."
Of these, Kiwi Property would account for around 4000 homes, while Oyster Capital plans about 400 lots, plus an Aged Care facility. The site is 12ha, but the back part is low-lying land which will form part of the Southern Creek reserve.
Wilson says that late last year the Council did a 180-degree turn and they were on board. Support from then Housing Minister Phil Twyford helped and in August 2019 Auckland Council announced it would build 34,500 homes in the Drury and Pukekohe area by 2050.
The Oyster Capital development will be one of the first stages of this expansion.
Wilson says: "We've got a masterplan with an agreement to deliver around 400 lots to Fletcher Building over a three year period. We will start that as soon as we possibly can. We're hoping that might be next October, all things going well. Before that there is a lot of roading that has to be organised. That means both funding and understanding the roading. "Part of this will be the Drury interchange on the Southern Motorway and the Waihoehoe Rd intersection with Great South Rd."
Wilson says these Government-sponsored road transport projects and upgrades to the rail network will unlock the area.
This includes the $500m set aside in the Auckland Transport Alignment Project to develop Mill Rd as an arterial route.
He reckons Twyford's intervention means the Council needs to take another look at dealing with its budget constraints. He notes there will be a lot of development contributions coming from the project.
"It's a chicken and egg for them. They want to get this stuff under way, so they can get some revenue and things happening, but they have only got so much money," says. "It's a huge win to have Phil Twyford on board and making some hard decisions. What he has done is fantastic for the city and the country.
"It'll be interesting to see how the dynamics of the city change when we build a new town centre in Drury."
There's no question Wilson is enthusiastic about creating new urban spaces: "At Whenuapai we put a town park on the corner of Totara Road. We shifted eight significant mature oak trees and put them around the park. Then we shifted the old farm house - it's now a cafe which opens out onto children's playground with a little orchard."
"To be able to do this stuff at scale is a lot of fun."
