November 30, 2017
Ngati Whatua buys Kupe St block
Ngati Whatua Orakei is buying back state housing land near its marae it wasn’t able to secure through its treaty settlement.
The hapu will pay Housing New Zealand $16.5 million for a block of just over two thirds of a hectare at the corner of Hawaiki and Kupe Sts, and it will buy four other land tranches along the ridge between now and 2021.
Ngarimu Blair, who sits on Ngati Whatua’s commercial arm Whai Rawa, says the land was part of the part of the original 700-acre Orakei block which was supposed to be reserved for the hapu.
He says the purchase allows it to influence and enhance the surroundings and access points to its papakainga landholdings and the Whenua Rangatira.
It has no immediate plans to re-develop the sites.
Whai Rawa, which now has $888 million of investment property, has built 30 affordable, medium-density dwelling on the Orakei ridge within its Kainga Tuatahi communal housing scheme.
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