NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies

Mark Francis after $37m sale: Buying Warkworth bare land, rezoning 'speculative'

Anne Gibson
By Anne Gibson
Property Editor·NZ Herald·
9 Sep, 2020 05:47 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Augusta Capital managing director Mark Francis. Photo / Supplied

Augusta Capital managing director Mark Francis. Photo / Supplied

Auckland property developer and investor Mark Francis admits he took a big personal financial risk buying a substantial block of Warkworth land revealed yesterday to have been sold for $37 million.

However, he talked down any potential conflict with the listed property companies he's involved with.

Francis is managing director of Augusta Capital, taken over by ASX listed Centuria Capital in a deal worth around $169m and recently delisted. He is also managing director of NZX-listed Asset Plus which Augusta manages.

Yesterday, he said a company he wholly owns had sold 39ha of Warkworth land on the town's north-western fringe to an unnamed party but described the risks he took as high.

"Buying bare land and rezoning it is speculative and at the higher end of the risk curve and was certainly not something that Augusta had a vehicle suitable for at the time I acquired it," he said, referring to the purchase being about four years ago.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

READ MORE:
• Augusta Capital endures 'challenging' year: $27.05m loss follows $6.95m profit
• Augusta founder Mark Francis outlines thinking on NPT
• Australians suddenly scrap $180m Augusta takeover, further corporate fallout amidst pandemic
• Building development in the blood

GP (Turnstone Capital) had the Stubbs Farm rezoned from future urban to residential which he said would allow a medium-density development of around 700 homes to be built there.

Asked if his own private company should be buying land when he had headed two NZX listed companies which specialised in real estate, he said: "I bought it years ago before we even had control of Asset Plus and it was disclosed too and signed off by the Augusta board at the time I bought it. I didn't compete with any Augusta entities, as we've not done land rezones."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Last year it was reported Augusta was looking to buy Warkworth land and start a new fund developing residential subdivisions.

Francis yesterday said that was correct.

Discover more

Investment

Augusta under surprise takeover deal

29 Jan 04:35 AM
Companies

$169m Augusta takeover goes unconditional

08 Jul 09:32 PM
Construction

Asset Plus wants $60m for $120m council project

09 Sep 11:50 PM
New Zealand

Wanted woman arrested after rescue from river mud

17 Sep 10:17 AM

"We looked at it. Augusta was going to buy it from me. I was going to stay in for say 20 per cent to use as the seed asset for our residential development fund but then the Centuria deal came along and it got pushed to one side.

"I was also mindful of the public perception of me selling it into an Augusta fund, even though the board supported it conceptually," he told the Herald.

Michael Midgley, Shareholders Association chief executive, was approached for comment on the events over the Warkworth land. He referred to the price Asset Plus is trading at, having fallen from 64c in January to around 35c today.

"Given the fact that Asset Plus has halved in price lately, shareholders might be saying he should spend more time managing that."

Asset Plus says around 1200 people will eventually work at its new building at 6-8 Munroe Lane, Albany. Photo / Supplied
Asset Plus says around 1200 people will eventually work at its new building at 6-8 Munroe Lane, Albany. Photo / Supplied

Midgley said now that Augusta was delisted, shareholders would no longer meet and could ask no questions about the Warkworth deal.

Auckland Council said 99ha of land at Warkworth had been rezoned from future urban to a mix of business and residential zones. This would provide for approximately 1000 to 1200 dwellings, 13ha of industrial/commercial land and a new neighbourhood centre of 3000sq m," the approval said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Turnstone notified its application last May.

The council received 44 submissions. Warkworth is earmarked for an extra 20,000 to 25,000 people so demand will rise in the area for new housing.

Opponents raised concerns about the proximity of the land to farmed property "potentially restricting farming activities" and generating complaints.

A resident of Viv Davie-Martin Dr said their house was on the south-western boundary of the land subject to the rezoning application and they raised concerns about transport linkages and roading.

Asset Plus chairman Bruce Cotterill today announced the appointment of John McBain as a non-independent director.

McBain is the joint CEO of the Centuria which owns Augusta which is also the largest shareholder in Asset Plus. He replaced Paul Duffy as the manager's nominated representative on the board.

On September 1, Asset Plus said its property portfolio valuations had risen from $142.05m in March to $153.4m at the end of August.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Companies

Premium
TechnologyUpdated

Tech Insider: $529 phone, bought in March, can only make 3G calls; IRD's AI warning; $16K Google Cloud refund

10 Jun 03:14 AM
Agribusiness

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

09 Jun 11:51 PM
Premium
Property

Fletcher begins marathon court case against subbies over SkyCity convention centre fire

09 Jun 10:33 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Companies

Premium
Tech Insider: $529 phone, bought in March, can only make 3G calls; IRD's AI warning; $16K Google Cloud refund

Tech Insider: $529 phone, bought in March, can only make 3G calls; IRD's AI warning; $16K Google Cloud refund

10 Jun 03:14 AM

PLUS: Elon Musk's pain is Sir Peter Beck's gain.

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

09 Jun 11:51 PM
Premium
Fletcher begins marathon court case against subbies over SkyCity convention centre fire

Fletcher begins marathon court case against subbies over SkyCity convention centre fire

09 Jun 10:33 PM
All the iOS 26 changes and new updates for your Apple devices from WWDC

All the iOS 26 changes and new updates for your Apple devices from WWDC

09 Jun 10:28 PM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP