Marutūāhu chairman Paul Majurey at the opening of the new Ockham-Marutūāhu building Toi in Pt Chevalier. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
“Toitū te whenua, toitū te tangata [honour the land, honour the people],” lawyer and Marutūāhu chairman Paul Majurey said at last Thursday’s opening of a new green, 65-unit five-level Pt Chevalier apartment block.
Speaking during Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori, Majurey was at the opening of the sixth of seven blocks built by a successful Māori-Pākehā partnership.
The five-iwi Marutūāhu is the tangata whenua part of that, while Ockham Residential is the Pākehā developer.
In fact, the relationship was so close that Majurey said he referred to the entity as “Ngāti Ockham”.
Since 2019, the pair have developed 720 new homes in the city.
The Marutūāhu-Ockham Partnership has now completed seven Tāmaki Makaurau apartment blocks.
Marutūāhu is Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngaati Whanaunga and Te Patukirikiri.
It owns the land under Toi, opened last Thursday, after a Waitangi Treaty settlement, on land beside the now-shut Carrington Hospital.
The developer brings expertise and know-how of apartment-block building, having developed nearly 1400 units in the city.
The partnership plans many more projects together, particularly on Treaty of Waitangi settlement land.
Ockham has developed 21 new buildings since it was founded – seven times with Marutūāhu.
Hannah Majurey, daughter of Paul Majurey, is an Ockham project manager and he paid tribute to her and others at Thursday’s event.
Toi is clad in green tiles, the colour inspired by harakeke (flax) and by architectural designer Hannah Chiaroni-Clarke.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop said on Thursday his party took some credit for such collaborations.
“When the previous National-led Government launched the Crown Land programme in 2015 – now known as the Land for Housing programme – it did not have any well-established development partnerships with iwi.
“Ten years later, the programme’s footprint has seen mana whenua involved in housing development in over 86% of its projects, for the delivery of over 6000 homes across New Zealand. This is a step-change from where we started,” Bishop told about 100 guests at Toi, which is built on ex-Unitec land.
“The Carrington Development in particular is a great example of the Crown, iwi and private sector working together under the Land for Housing programme.
“It’s clear that we have a shared commitment to address the housing shortage and provide quality homes for Kiwis.”
Majurey spoke after Bishop at the opening of the sixth of seven blocks.
Little was said of the far larger 77-unit Whetū.
But Ockham is now pitching it as a build-to-rent scheme.
Such is the state of the market that only 30% of Toi’s units are pre-sold.
So the partnership has taken the tough decision not to flood sites with further units in the giant Whetū, a kupu (word) meaning star.
The Marutūāhu-Ockham Partnership has instead arrived at a decision to rent all those 77 units.
Ockham CEO William Deihl said units in Whetū would be rented soon.
Mayor Wayne Brown said he had become friends with Ockham co-founder Mark Todd, as well as Majurey. He praised their buildings, saying it showed what can be achieved when iwi and business work together.
Of bigger plans for the area, Brown said this would be a high-density community, balanced by an extensive network of green spaces, interconnected and woven around the buildings, with an emphasis on shared spaces for people to eat, talk, work and play.
“The Maungarongo master plan hints at what’s to come – a metro supermarket, creche, 24-hour gym, swimming pool, cafes, restaurants, commercial spaces, co-working offices, playgrounds, recreational spaces, community gardens and the list goes on," Brown noted.
“It is the type of development that is good for this city. We need to celebrate it: this is the Auckland that is coming, it is the Auckland that I’m proud to push for.”
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.