Waikato Business News April/May 2021

4 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2021
‘I want to be part of a great city’
By RICHARD WALKER
Developer Matt Stark has a simple wish
for his city. He wants Hamilton Kirikiriroa
to be distinctively different from anywhere
else in the world.
Stark looks ahead 10 or
15 years to a city with a
Tainui Māori undertone,
in which the buildings articulate
its history and stories
through their design.
He wants Hamilton to
become an iconic city, just as
Christchurch has been - or for
that matter the great European
cities like Prague or Barcelona,
where he says you know
instantly what city you are in.
So it’s a simple wish, and a
big one.
“My dream is we build
a city that, whatever culture
you come from, you come to
Hamilton City and you go,
‘Wow, what a cool city.’ It’s
been built and created in a way
that appreciates its past, knows
who it is today, and knows
where it’s going.”
He thinks Hamiltonians
are starting to understand their
past, but wonders if they understand
what the city is today -
“cow town or metropolitan?”
- and where it is going.
He sees Stark Property’s
newest build, Tūāpapa, as playing
its part. Tūāpapa, which
can be translated as terrace or
foundation, will feature three
buildings along Ward Street
from the Tristram Street corner.
The mixed-use development
will include office space, retail
and hospitality and accommodation.
Construction will start
on the first stage - a six-storey
office building named Mahi -
late this year.
As much as possible, it will
be done with local providers.
Artist’s impression of Tristram Precinct.
“We [Hamilton] so often
run to Auckland and get consultants
out of there to do
the stuff that we have got the
expertise for in town. I’m all
for getting ideas and harvesting
stuff from further abroad
and bringing it back because
that’s what I’ve done for many
years, but actually, the money
spent outside the city when
we’ve got the talent here, it’s
crazy.
“If we want to look like
Auckland, go get an Auckland
consultant because they’ll
make it look like Auckland.”
Creating a city that is
proudly distinctive will come
partly from drawing on the past
for design inspiration, but also
from its natural layout, which
crucially includes the Waikato
River.
Integrating the river should
be a high priority, Stark says.
“Stop building buildings on it
and blocking it from the public.”
There are simple steps that
he thinks haven’t yet been
taken to open up the river and
enhance people’s feeling of
safety. “Cut the shrubs, have
a vegetation management plan
to look after your best asset,”
he says.
“We’ve got the largest river
in the country, and we’re still
not there, we’re giving lip service
to it. We’re a long way
from it.”
When it comes to the proposed
pedestrian bridge, Stark
says the city should also be
talking about handrails and
safety barriers on the existing
bridges’ footpaths - a $300,000
job, not a multimillion one,
he says. He’s not opposed to
builds like the footbridge and
theatre, but says: “Where’s the
real, meaningful, low-hanging
fruit? There’s so much
low-hanging fruit at the
moment.”
My dream is we build
a city that, whatever
culture you come
from, you come to
Hamilton City and
you go, ‘Wow, what
a cool city.’ It’s been
built and created in a
way that appreciates
its past, knows who
it is today, and knows
where it’s going.
Deputy Mayor Taylor, who
has the key role as chair of the
Central City and River Plan
Advisory Group, says council
staff are creating river view
shafts in places and he is pressing
for more.
“I live and breathe opening
up the river to this city,”
he says in response to Stark’s
comments, and points out
council has just got approval
for a “huge raft of river projects”
in the Long Term Plan.
That includes $13 million
towards planning and
construction of a pedestrian
bridge, $6 million around the
new Waikato Regional Theatre
to create a plaza, $3.5 million
transforming the Victoria St
frontage of Waikato Museum,
$1.4 million demolishing the
municipal pools and doing
up the Ferrybank area, and
$1.1 million on Wellington St
beach. He says they have also
spent more than $1m on a new
jetty beneath the museum,
which is now open, and are
backing a group that wants to
create a multi-million dollar
community and sports hub at
Roose Commerce and Ferrybank.
With Stark’s commitment
to the city, it
may seem surprising
that he did not submit on Hamilton’s
long-term plan.
That’s because while he
respects the councillors, he
says he has had only a handful
of interactions with them and
wonders how in touch they are
with his sector of the community.
“They are in control of the
fastest growing city that’s geographically
well placed and a
city that could be developed
well and can be developed in
a unique way with a young
population. They’ve got all the
ingredients, and are we cooking
it well?”
In answer to his own
question, Stark doesn’t
Continued on page 6
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