Simplicity Living's site is outlined in white. It's at 10 Morningside Dr, Auckland. Photo / Simplicity Living
Simplicity Living's site is outlined in white. It's at 10 Morningside Dr, Auckland. Photo / Simplicity Living
Poynters’ outdoor furniture showroom and nearby shops in Morningside will be demolished soon to make way for a new high-rise $150 million 256-unit block of build-to-rent apartments on a 6560-square-metre site, a developer says.
Shane Brealey, managing director of Simplicity Living, announced plans for the scheme at 10 Morningside Dr,Auckland, after the property was advertised for sale by real estate agency Whillans and sold by agent Brice Clark.
The master planning process is underway for the apartments, to be rented long-term.
Construction was planned to start next year with completion in late 2027, Brealey said.
Morningside is the sixth site for Simplicity Living since it started two years ago, with other sites in Pt England, Onehunga, Mt Albert, Mt Wellington and Remuera.
Plans for the new build-to-rent apartments by Simplicity Living for 10 Morningside Dr, Auckland. Photo / Simplicity Living
Nationally, Simplicity Living plans to build 10,000 new rental units worth about $5 billion in the next decade in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington.
It has already built and rented 159 homes, with 348 units under construction and the land contracted for a further 592 apartments.
Kupenga, Pt England, 111 units completed, occupied
Waitangi Rd, Onehunga, 48 units completed, occupied
6 Range View Rd, Owairaka, 51 units under construction, due to be completed by May
80 Mt Wellington Hwy, 297 units under construction, completion due next December
130 Ascot Ave, Ellerslie, 336 units planned, resource consent application lodged, construction due to start later this year
10 Morningside Dr, 256 units, master-planning underway, construction due to start soon.
Managing director Sam Stubbs said investing in rental accommodation was common overseas for pension funds such as Simplicity, which manages $5.1b of funds in KiwiSaver and investment portfolios.
Reiputa is Simplicity Living's new scheme for 80 Mt Wellington Highway. Photo / Simplicity Living
The site where the new seven-level Morningside block is planned has a 131m street frontage and is 150m from the Morningside train station. Tenants listed in the sales document as trading from the site include Hollywood Baker, Caffe Coffe and Stylish Clothing.
Brealey said the units Simplicity Living was building were “apartments to last 100+ years because that’s how long we want to own them”.
Last year, Stubbs announced a new venture, the Simplicity Homes and Income Fund, which aimed to address “decades of this country under-building housing”.
Simplicity is now investing in building affordable homes. From left: Shane and Anna Brealey of NZ Living, Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs and COO Andrew Lance.
“Over time, we’re aiming for this fund to beat its benchmark and provide higher returns than term deposit averages,” he said.
A minimum $1000 was sought from investors. The fund will aim to maintain 40 per cent in cash and equivalent assets to provide liquidity so investors still get access to their money without withdrawal fees or penalties.
Clive Mackenzie when Resido was less advanced than it is now. It's nearly finished and due to open in May. Photo / Michael Craig
Other developers’ plans
NZX-listed Kiwi Property is developing Resido apartments at Mt Wellington.
Via Naylor Love, it has a $200m build-to-rent scheme at Sylvia Park, planning to open 295 new apartments in three blocks of up to 12 levels by about May.
Like the Simplicity projects, Kiwi’s units will be rented in perpetuity, providing what CEO Clive Mackenzie describes as “a place to set roots”.
He wants people to live there long-term, bucking the instability that is often a feature of New Zealand’s residential rental market.
The Resido project is the first large-scale residential development offering from any NZX-listed company.
Mark Todd of Ockham Residential at Aalto, a boutique apartment development in Morningside. Photo / Dean Purcell
Overseas, listed stocks have extensive housing holdings, so New Zealand has been out of step till now.
Morningside also drew Ockham Residential, which developed Aalto at 2 Finch St off Western Springs Rd.
Ockham’s Mark Todd said that was so popular that, when it was marketed in May 2021, all 39 apartments pre-sold quickly, with buyers putting down 10 per cent deposits.
About 30 per cent were first-home buyers and the same percentage were landlord investors.
Alto opened last year but is not build-to-rent. Its units were sold by the developer, unlike Resido and Simplicity Living’s offerings.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
