Tenants ‘feel blessed’ to be living in new Avondale development

Many of the tenants who will move into the newly completed homes in the fifth and final building in the Community Lane development will be older people or people with health needs. They will start moving in from mid-March.

“In just under two and a half years our build partner CMP Construction have delivered 236 new warm and dry homes. That’s one new home every four days,’’ says Nick Howcroft, Director Delivery at Kāinga Ora.

“I recently met some of the Community Lane tenants who moved in last year and it was so rewarding to get feedback on their new homes. When we hear our tenants say they feel safe, are using the community lounges to connect with each other, and feel blessed to be living here, I know we’ve done a good job and made a difference to the lives of hundreds of New Zealanders.”

Community Lane sits on a site where there were originally 45 older state homes. Now, there are 236 homes spread across five buildings. Most of the homes have been designed with older people in mind but there are also some apartments for small families.

It is high density living so getting the urban design right in the early stages of the planning for Community Lane was critical.  All the buildings were designed to capture the light, with many enjoying elevated views of the communal gardens and the local lane connecting tenants to the surrounding neighbourhood.

Separating the development into five buildings provides a sense of space, and the buildings are nestled around common areas to provide a feeling of safety to those living there.

Each building has its own community lounge and there are gardens and greenhouses providing outdoor spaces where tenants can meet and get to know each other.

“Avondale is a central Auckland suburb, and our development supported Auckland Council plans to revitalise this area. Kāinga Ora site works, and the installation of waste and storm water systems through our land, has enabled private developers to connect and build more new homes in the area,” Nick says.

“During the peak of construction up to 300 workers were onsite so this was busy housing development. The unit cost to build 236 new homes was $572,000 including all of the broader construction costs associated with the development. Commencing construction during a period of rising construction costs and supply constraints presented some challenges, and the overall team did well to execute on the delivery programme. Leveraging many of these learnings and engaging with the industry, we are resetting how we deliver density more cost-effectively in the future.”

Watch this video to learn more about the design and build.