KAREN SPIRES & JOHN HARMAN
When it comes to property development, husband and wife team John Harman and Karen Spires may be the relatively new kids on the block, but they’ve already set the bar high. John’s first development, St Marks in Remuera, won the best multiunit residential property award at the 2019 Property Industry Awards. Now the former breast cancer surgeon and real estate agent have been working together on a second development next door, Mark II.
How does a renowned breast surgeon end up becoming a property developer?
John: We were on holiday in Switzerland five years ago and as I was getting out of the spa pool at our hotel I slipped and smashed my wrist. It meant I could no longer operate and I was devastated. But I’m a very positive person and as a cancer surgeon I’ve seen a lot of women with devastation in their lives who pick themselves up and get on with it. I had to do the same thing.
I had always dreamed of building a state-of-the-art medical centre where my clinic, St Marks Breast Centre, was and while I was looking into that, my planning guys were saying, ‘Why not build apartments on the site as well?’
I’m a big fan of apartments — I live in one myself — so I thought, ‘Why not? It could be fun to do apartments as well as a medical facility.’ I expected I would hand everything over to a developer but they were all busy doing their own thing, so I decided I had better get on with it and do it myself.
Was it a steep learning curve? John: Yes. People thought I was mad.
Karen: I mean, why would you do it? We don’t need the money, and we don’t need the hassle. But he loves it. And he’s really good at it. He’s creative, and a visionary. He has the ability to see what he wants and how it would work. Meanwhile, I am the day-to-day organiser, the person who has the list to work through and tick off. John: I made sure I got together the top people in construction, in architecture, in every discipline involved, and I asked a lot of questions. Some of them were very dumb questions, but I learned a lot.
Did your years as a surgeon help in any way?
John: Definitely. In both you have leadership skills, you assemble a team and you inspire them to perform to the very best of their abilities. You plan well and make sure you have all the information you need. As a surgeon, people have to have faith in you and it is the same with property development.
Was it stressful doing something so very different?
John: There are stresses, but it was so much less stress for me than surgery. Building apartments is not life or death; surgery is.
Karen, was joining John to work in property development an obvious next step for you?
Karen: It had been on the cards but I have only been doing it for a couple of months. I was a real estate agent for 24 years, 20 of those with Bayleys, and I did really well. I was one of their top 20 agents for many years, and it was all about striving for excellence and being competitive. I wasn’t involved in developing St Marks, that was all John. Now I have been fully immersed with Mark II, and while it’s quite new to me, I am really enjoying it.
I kind of morphed into property development because it would allow me more flexibility to travel to America to see our son Jack, who is 15 and moved over there to study for three years at a private ski racing academy in California.
I’m still in the property industry, just a different part of it, and like real estate, property development is not so much about bricks and mortar, it’s more of a people industry. It’s understanding people, what makes them tick, what they are looking for in a home and a lifestyle.
With developments like St Marks and Mark II, it is also about creating a community and a sense of social wellbeing. We try to encourage people to get to know their neighbours, which is why there will be shared facilities like a wellness centre and swimming pool, an inhouse barista and al fresco dining area in Mark II. John: St Marks, which has a cafe, has become quite a lively community already, which I like. The community and family side of things matter to me. I’m half Fijian — family life and shared community spirit is very important to Fijians.
Will there be another development after Mark II?
John: I don’t have any plans beyond that. We’ll see. I’ll be 70 by the time it is due to be finished in 2023. Maybe Karen should do one, and I’ll help. She’s only 51, that’s too young to retire.
“I made sure I got together the top people in construction, in architecture, in every discipline involved, and I asked a lot of questions. Some of them were very dumb questions, but I learned a lot.”