Oz firm steers air base changes

An Australian housing business is a partner on the former Hobsonville air base which is to become a new residential estate in Auckland.

Peter Summers, chief executive of the ASX-listed business AVJennings, said his firm was appointed Hobsonville Land Company's development partner on the first of about five precincts.

The Australian business has offices in four states and employs about 350 people.

Hobsonville Land Company, owned by the Government's Housing New Zealand Corporation, appointed AVJennings in 2007 to develop stage one of the project. Summers said this was AVJennings' first project in New Zealand and his firm was taking on the development risk and selling sections to three house building firms.

The first 650 houses on the waterfront site will be built by Asian-controlled Universal Homes Holdings (Pacific) which is owned by China Merchants of Singapore, Australian-headquartered franchise business G.J. Gardner Homes and New Zealand's Universal Homes.

Summers said people should not question the foreign ownership of the house builders. "These firms are very much companies which operate in New Zealand."

AVJennings has a development agreement on just under 60ha of land, Summers said. About 660 houses and apartments would be built there

The three builders have agreements to buy 68 of the 660 residential titles, Summers said, then can onsell them to the residents.

Graham Street, Universal's chief executive, said his business would not begin building until the last quarter of next year.

A statement released yesterday by Hobsonville Point said the three builders would put up the initial 650 houses, working at Buckley Precinct, a 60ha site which is part of the 167ha project. The precinct will have 1080 houses, parks, shops, schools and a daycare centre. The first houses will be sold later next year and people will move in around March 2011.

AVJennings' role has been master planner for the first stage. Summers said it had been important for his firm to work with local builders.

Natalie Schuster, a spokeswoman for Hobsonville Point, said Summers was visiting the site this week.

"The Buckley Precinct was approved by Waitakere City Council under a comprehensive development plan," she said.

G.J. Gardner Homes started in Queensland during 1983. Two decades later the independent building firm owned by Greg Gardner has expanded throughout Australia and into the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Germany.