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Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust and Ngai Tai have broken ground on their joint venture to build a large social housing complex at Waterview.
The three-year, $54 million project is for a mix of terrace and apartment dwellings.
Waipareira chief executive John Tamihere says the first of the 120 homes should be completed early next year.
He says the west Auckland urban Maori trust is able to use its experience to assist the post-settlement iwi to make effective use of its commercial redress properties, as well as contribute to the wider Maori community through the use of trainees and tradespeople.
"Because we're used to developmental projects and used to lining up our kids for trade training options and used to connecting to our tradespeople who are fully qualified, when we do anything our people get options and opportunities they wouldn't normally get," Mr Tamihere says.
He says 43 percent of people on the Housing New Zealand waiting list are Maori, which points to how Auckland housing is unaffordable for low-income Maori.
Whanau wanting to get into the homes will need to be registered with Housing New Zealand.
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