Top team realises dream
Development will be pet- friendly, have a concierge service and a shared electric car for treks to the city, writes Donna Fleming
When breast surgeon John Harman told people he was going into the property development business, many of them looked at him like he’d lost the plot. “The response was, ‘ Do you know what you’re doing? Have you gone crazy?’,” recalls John. “But those who know me know that when I do something, I give it 110 per cent and I do it well.”
John is the driving force behind the construction of three six- level apartment blocks and a state- ofthe- art breast clinic on the Remuera site of St Marks Breast Centre, which he has owned for 27 years.
“We operated out of a villa, which was charming but not efficient, and I always wanted to build a proper clinic on the site,” says John. “When I talked to planners about what could be done, they said if we also built apartments, we could go higher.”
The more he thought about a residential development, the keener he became. He’s had an interest in real estate for many years, along with a huge fondness for Remuera, and having resided in an apartment for over a decade, is a huge fan of this type of living.
“I thought, Why not build the kind of place I would like to live in?”
John found himself with the time to devote to a massive project after he smashed his wrist in an accident and was unable to operate anymore. With the support of his bank, BNZ, which wasn’t fazed when his initial scheme to build a clinic morphed into a 58- apartment development, he hired a group of experts to bring his plans to fruition.
“As a surgeon, my job taught me the importance of having a good team around me,” says John. “It also made me very success- oriented and good at looking for different solutions.” That team includes wife Karen Spires, who’s helping to market the development.
Architect Andrew Patterson came up with the concept design while Peddle Thorp followed through with project design. Family firm Dominion Constructors were hired to do the building.
“I’ve surrounded myself with people who are very good at what they do, and I have learned a lot as I have gone along,” says John.
A huge amount of thought and effort has gone into planning, with the design stage taking well over a year. The result is a range of luxury apartments with three separate buildings, named The Mark, The Mac and The Grove.
The buildings will be solid concrete, with double walls between apartments for extra sound proofing. They have cleverly designed outdoor rooms that can be enclosed in winter or opened in summer thanks to two sets of sliding doors, and top quality fixtures and fittings, including parquet floors, marble bathrooms and Miele appliances.
Outside, there will be a central garden courtyard providing outdoor space, and residents of The Grove get to look out on a striking plant- covered green wall. The complex will include a delicatessen and a cafe/ restaurant run by the Hip Group, the company behind the popular Kohi Cafe.
Other features include a concierge service, a dog washing area — St Marks is pet friendly — and an electric car that residents will be able use.
The breast clinic and other medical offices will be housed in a fourth building on the site, which will shield the apartments from the motorway.
So far John has sold three apartments to family members and two to other doctors he has known since medical school.
He’s got so much confidence in the quality of St Marks that he’s going to be living in a penthouse there.
“I am really building it for me — it has got everything that I think is important in an apartment. I think it will be a beautiful place that people are going to be very happy to live in.”
St Marks is due for completion early next year. ST MARKS, 10 ST MARKS RD, REMUERA Eight apartments remaining out of 58. There are three twobedroom, twobathroom apartments from 124sq m ( including outdoor room) starting from $ 2.035 million and five three- bedroom, two- bathroom apartments from 147sq m ( including outdoor room) that start at $ 2.2 million. These prices include two underground car parking spaces each. St Marks is close to the motorway, public transport and amenities in Newmarket. BODY CORP: Around $ 4600 a year. INSPECT: SCHOOLS: CONTACT: ON THE WEB: