Pauanui’s Final Splash
GRAND FINALE FOR PAUANUI CANAL CHRONICLES
As the final 12 waterfront allotments hit the market for sale in New Zealand’s premier canal community, visionary residential developer and maritime devotee Leigh Hopper reflects on nearly 35 years of work to realise the full potential of Hopper Development’s Pauanui Waterways.
A look across the Tairua-Pauanui Harbour on the scenic Coromandel Coastline this summer assured Leigh Hopper that he had not just reached his father’s original ambitions for the sleepy sandspit but now surpassed them with the near completion of the adjoining Pauanui Waterways.
For nearly 35 years, Leigh and his family have worked methodically through environmental, legislative, economic, and social change, transforming once unproductive farmland into New Zealand’s very first and now iconic residential waterfront community.
Leigh has been dreaming of canal developments since the late 1980s, when, inspired by activity in Australia, he sought the perfect land parcel to launch this new standard in waterfront living.
“Kiwis are a nation of boaties, so we knew that there was inherently a demand for homes with simple access to moorings and a perennial holiday feel.”
He grew up around bulldozers and construction, so understood the scale of the physical undertaking and acknowledged the site’s unique capabilities to sustain such an ambitious project. “Few geographical locations can accommodate such a comprehensive development, which requires an off-river water system and just the right balance of sand and soil integrity, seawater diversion, topography, ocean accessibility and natural beauty.”
It was essential to Leigh that the Pauanui Waterways emerge as a premier destination and add value to the broader Coromandel District.
“We’ve taken every measure to maintain a quality environment within the canals, create a high level of amenity and ensure the public retains the right of access so they too can enjoy the beautiful landscaped properties within.”
The development attracts a high proportion of holidaymakers, with home bases predominantly across the Upper North Island, owing to Pauanui’s ease of access and its location approximately one and a half hours from Auckland and around two hours from Hamilton and Tauranga.
“While Hammerhead is the final release of waterfront sections, we are committed to the ongoing management and maintenance of the Pauanui Waterways, and we are enormously proud of this flagship development,” Leigh says.
“At our heart, we’re a family business, and this has been a family project, with three generations of the Hopper family involved in various phases of its creation.”
“The canals remain one of my favourite places to lark, and I get great satisfaction from watching generations enjoy this environment together. I see that these places and homes are the glue that brings them together, as it has our own family.”
As Leigh and his team prepare for their final splash at the Pauanui Waterways, the 12 prime shoreline sites bear the
apt moniker ‘Hammerhead’. Positioned along the gracefully curved canal front, these sites evoke the distinction and elegance of their namesake apex predator, offering a fitting finale to this extraordinary development.
Facing north with a vantage that spans the entire lifestyle enclave with private moorings, the sites showcase the essence of the acclaimed coastal community, providing the real last opportunities to secure a legacy property for families and future generations whilst creating a design and building to exacting specifications in New Zealand’s premier waterside paradise.
Hammerhead at Pauanui Waterways is an exclusive waterfront precinct comprising the final 12 sections sized between 691m2 and 1104m2 remaining within the esteemed Pauanui Waterways canal community. Renowned for its contemporary residences and variety of lifestyle opportunities, Pauanui continues to set the standard in upscale coastal living, offering an unparalleled opportunity to secure your slice of Coromandel Coast paradise.