Leading questions: Roger MacDonald

Roger MacDonald, newly appointed chief executive at Panuku Development Auckland. Photo/Anne Gibson

What is 2017 looking like for your business?

As the city's new urban development agency, Panuku Development Auckland is focused on progressing the work in our priority development locations across Auckland.

These range from small projects where we enable housing development on Auckland Council-owned land, to significant long-term regeneration such as the award-winning transformation of Wynyard Quarter on Auckland's waterfront.

In Wynyard Quarter the reconfigured Mason Bros. office building is now open, while work on the Park Hyatt Hotel and the two residential offerings from Willis Bond charge ahead.

We have completed the initial master planning to transform Manukau Central alongside the Crown, and we are actively negotiating with partners for a catalyst development site to kick things off later in the year.

Our plans to redevelop the Northcote town centre are well underway, the first stage of 102 homes in Hobsonville is being built, and in January the redevelopment of the Papatoetoe Mall begins.

Our name Panuku means to 'move forward' and it's critical we do just that by maintaining momentum across our development locations.

As a new chief executive, I would like Panuku to take a stronger 'thought leadership' role in the sector as we did when we hosted the best waterfront development brains from around the globe in November.

How does that compare to 2016? How did last year shape up for you and your staff?

The first year as Panuku Development Auckland, formed through the merger of two Auckland Council organisations - Waterfront Auckland and Auckland Council Property Ltd - in September 2015, was all about establishing our priorities and our ways of working.

With the council we agreed 20 locations from Whangaparaoa in the north to Pukekohe in the south for Panuku to focus on, and most of our first year has been spent developing initial plans for the new locations. There was a number of major milestones in those first 12 months, including:

• The ground breaking for the $200 million five star Park Hyatt Hotel in Wynyard Quarter.

• The first homes completed in the Ormiston Town Centre development, a joint venture between Todd Property Group and Auckland Council.

• Approval to redevelop the 63 Housing for Older People villages and form a joint venture company with The Selwyn Foundation.

• Plans revealed for the Civic Administration Building in Aotea Square, with developers Tawera Group to restore the heritage building into apartments.

• Hosting the Water Edge symposium for waterfront development leaders, attended by 23 experts from 16 cities.

What are the issues affecting your industry and what impact are these likely to have over the next 12 months?

We all know that Auckland is a fast-growing city and with 800 new people arriving each week there are certainly challenges in terms of infrastructure and housing.

There is clearly a lack of adequate affordable housing choices in Auckland but during 2017 we should start to see the benefits of the new Unitary Plan.

The other major issue in the development industry is around the pressure on construction resources - both products and skilled people.

What role does the business community have in tackling these problems?

The business community plays a critical role in dealing with the pressure on construction resources. From looking at innovative approaches to developing products to working with the education sector to identify and train potential staff, businesses need to think outside the box at this time.