Where are all the houses in special areas?

A single house is yet to rise on land announced as one of Auckland’s first Special Housing Areas.

The 6-hectare section at 50 Alexander Cres in Otara is being developed by the Kokiri Trust and was among the first tranche of SHAs unveiled in October 2013.

In May 2014 an extension to the SHA was announced at 59 Alexander Cres, with an additional 59 new sections or dwellings ‘‘likely’’ to be produced there.

Auckland Council’s website says the trust planned to construct about 144 new homes over four years at the Alexander Cres site.

The trust intended to have the first residential housing ready for habitation by May 2014 and the entire development completed by 2017.

‘‘The development is a papakainga – the building of a community of villages beginning with a kaumatua village and progressing to family/whanau homes that will be secure, warm and interconnected with all other villages,’’ it states.

Kokiri Trust spokeswoman Zena Tamanui says plans for the development have ‘‘morphed’’ since it was announced as an SHA, which has led to the timeframes being extended.

‘‘It’s going to be something even better [than what was originally planned],’’ she says.

‘‘People think success depends on when you get houses on the land but it doesn’t. There’s a lot of infrastructure to do first.’’

Tamanui says the trust hopes the development’s master plan will be finished soon and the first five homes will be built on the land by July next year.

Rather than 144 single-storey houses on the site as planned, the trust is now looking at building about 250 units and apartments to better utilise the land, she says.

The new plans will include accommodation suitable for students attending nearby Manukau Institute of Technology.

Tamanui says ‘‘of course’’ it has not been easy to raise the money needed to fund the development.

‘‘We want to make sure it’s affordable for everyone in Otara and that it’s excellent quality.’’

A council spokesperson says no official resource consent applications have been made relating to the Alexander Cres SHA.

Whether or not a developer goes ahead with their plans is optional, he says.

PHOTO: CHRIS HARROWELL/ FAIRFAX NZ A parcel of land in Otara announced as a Special Housing Area in October 2013 is still empty.