River Gardens Ngaruawahia

The original site had a land area of approximately 26.8 hectares. As part of our due diligence, the neighbouring land was purchased comprising approximately 9.7 hectares. A total of approximately 36.5 hectares was purchased for development. The number of rural-residential sites proposed sits at 58 fee simple lots, ranging from 5,000 sqm to 15,000 sqm. The proposed development is investor funded. The site will be developed over seven stages, with a timeframe of four years. Stage 1 has recently been completed, with section sales being in high demand. Challenges & Solutions Due diligence is important for us when purchasing a piece of land, and we aspire to purchase land knowing our risks and opportunities. In this situation, the site was purchased during the New Zealand Covid-19 lockdown; meaning that we couldnt undertake site visits or face to face meetings with our investors and / or specialists (such as geotechnical and civil engineers, town planners etc). Accordingly, all our due diligence was undertaken virtually. We surround our projects with competent consultants, who supported us in purchasing the land with a full understanding of the site's challenges and opportunities as described below. It was evident that the site posed many challenges from a development perspective. During the due diligence phase of the project, we identified a number of site constraints and site specific characteristics. This included flooding, liquefaction / lateral spread (geotechnical challenges), cultural and archaeological interests, and civil engineering challenges. An example of the challenges faced is with flooding - whereby the site is subject to a high flood hazard. In working with our consultants, we needed to understand the risk to future occupants, and how we manage this through our subdivision and development design. We identified a high cost would be associated with unlocking the rear portion of the site via a bridge. To overcome this challenge, we investigated the opportunity of purchasing the neighbours land, providing an alternative form of access for future owners and avoiding the flood hazard (and the previously required bridge). As mentioned above, we have a team of highly experienced and reputable consultants who take charge and assist us with overcoming the site constraints. As part of the consenting process with the local Council we provided a subdivision and development design that was supported by both the Council, our local cultural representatives, and our consultants. Photography: Example Content