Expressway boost for development
Hamilton’s largest residential development has reached new milestones as work on the nearby Waikato Expressway is about to provide convenient access to the wider region.
Greenhill Park is a long-term development by Chedworth Properties and Hamilton’s first example of a ‘‘medium density’’ housing suburb built around models seen in the United States and Auckland’s Hobsonville development. Construction of the project began five years ago and has the potential for more than
1600 sites on 116 hectares of land. Development manager Tony McLauchlan said Greenhill has been undertaken in stages and
406 lots had been built so far with another 99 under construction and 107 consented ready to build. The developers had consent applications with the Hamilton City Council, another 500 lots which will keep things busy over the coming years. This includes a suburban service centre, possibly including a superette, bakery, childcare and medical centre.
People buying into Greenhills come from a variety of backgrounds.
‘‘We get quite a number of empty-nesters who don’t need the space and who are looking to downsize into something low maintenance. The whole objective of the subdivision is to deliver a range of housing options from four-bedroom family homes with two-car garaging to two bedroom units with single garages. The cost of land determines the price of sections, with only 14 remaining in the current stages at prices ranging from $274,000 to
$304,000. This should be compared with sections available in Rototuna and Cambridge which tend to be in the $450,000 to
$500,000 range.’’ Chedworth director Jon Webb said careful attention was paid to design and building materials.
The development has a wide variety of building firms busy on site at any time, with about half a dozen involved from the start. All house designs were considered by Chedworth Properties design review committee before being approved as a means for not only providing variety, ensuring a consistent standard, and protecting homeowners’ investment.
‘‘We ask builders to keep their sites tidy and we have our own maintenance people contracted to do the gardening and keep the place in order.’’
Webb said one of the features of Greenhills is its location. Its main entrance off Pardoa Boulevard gives direct access to the soon-tobe-completed Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway. Two roundabouts will allow residents quick access to Auckland and Tauranga routes. On the other end, a roundabout on Wairere Drive gives access to the main arterials to the university area on the east of Hamilton, The Base and into the city.
Another main thoroughfare, Webb Drive, will eventually connect with Tainui’s giant inland port precinct at Ruakura.
One of the features of Greenhills is the narrow (5.0m) roads and purpose-designed off-road parking in parking bays finished in a charcoal-grey concrete.
‘‘Council requires the grid street layout but wider streets encourage traffic to travel faster. What we’re finding with medium density is that we can use narrower roads which have the effect of slowing the traffic down but through investing in good off-street parking not compromising amenity.’’
Then there was the need to cater for the risk of a ‘‘one in 100-year flood’’ event, an environmental requirement among local authorities. This resulted in the creation of hundreds of metres of wetlands now provided with bridges, public seating areas, adjacent play areas for children and more than 700,000 native plants.
The aim is to improve water quality from construction and urban runoff into the Waikato River. The wetland development also provides a habitat and passage for eels.
Chedworth Properties has been in the business for decades which effectively began as a family business back in the 1960s and has since included Chedworth, Fairview Downs, Horsham Estate, St James Park, and Colraine projects.