The Ngāi Tahu Property Timeline

Ngāi Tahu chiefs petitioned the Government about the methods used in purchasing their lands following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Ngāi Tahu Maori Trust Board filed the Ngāi Tahu claim with the Waitangi Tribunal.

Ngāi Tahu Property Limited is incorporated in anticipation of the opportunity to leverage and grow the Crown Settlement. The Chief Executive is appointed as the company’s first employee.

Ngāi Tahu Property purchases 236 hectares of land at the Wigram Aerodrome.

Ngāi Tahu settles its Waitangi Tribunal Claim with the Crown. Economic redress comprises a cash payment of $170 million along with mechanisms that give Ngāi Tahu the right and opportunity to buy certain Crown assets (the Deferred Selection Process and the Right of First Refusal). Independent analysis by CS First Boston had valued the economic losses to Ngāi Tahu from the Crown’s land purchases of last century at more than $20 billion.

Ngāi Tahu uses its $170 million settlement along with borrowings of $80 million to procure the inaugural parcels of land from the Crown for the company. This included three High Country Stations, Courts and Police Stations throughout the South Island (long-term Crown tenants) and Crown forestry assets.

The former New Zealand Rail Workshops site in Addington was purchased under Ngāi Tahu’s Right of First Refusal provision. This land was developed over the next six years into Tower Junction Mega Centre and Tower Junction Village.

6,764 hectares of land at Eyrewell and 9,400 hectares at Balmoral on the Canterbury Plains are purchased at market value, under the Deferred Selection Process of the Deed of Settlement.

As forestry licenses expire, Ngāi Tahu Property converts the land to pasture.

The Queenstown Post Office Precinct is developed covering an entire block comprising four new buildings and the historic Queenstown Courthouse. The Post Office Precinct is a significant and substantial development, offering 2,083m² of retail space and 5,393m² of office area.

Ngāi Tahu Property enters a long-term, strategic alliance with Lincoln University to jointly develop 118 hectares of University land known at "The Dairy Block." This development became Te Whāriki and at completion will have more than 800 residential sections.

Ngāi Tahu Property purchases the farmland for the Prestons development on the open market and signs a joint venture agreement with CDL Land New Zealand Ltd and Foodstuffs South Island Ltd.

The former NZ Post mail centre is redeveloped into the Christchurch Civic Building, New Zealand’s first 6-Green Star Office Built certified building. Housing the Christchurch City Council on a long-term basis, the building represents a successful public-private partnership venture between Ngāi Tahu Property and the Christchurch City Council, whereby Ngāi Tahu Property has a 50% ownership and manages the building on behalf of the partnership.

Ngāi Tahu Property announces a partnership with New Zealand Blood Service to build a 3,800m² state-of-the-art facility at Lester Lane in Christchurch. The purpose-designed facility comprises a blood donor centre, manufacturing and testing laboratories, specialised warehousing facilities and support-function offices. The building, named Te Whare Whakapapa, opened in November 2014. In 2015 it was a Gold Award Winner at the NZ Commercial Project Awards. And in 2016 received the PCNZ, Fagerhult NZ Health & Medical Property award, Award of Excellence, Best in Category.

A key milestone is achieved with the value of assets under management exceeding $500 million.

Ngāi Tahu Property develops three trial dairy farms at Eyrewell on the Canterbury Plains and invests in best-practice technology and on-farm water storage.
Farming commences in 2012.

The Canterbury earthquakes had a profound impact on the region. The urgent need for safe, well-developed land on which to build new houses accelerated Ngāi Tahu Property’s growth. It also led to a series of important new partnerships through which the company was better positioned to respond to the critical needs in the region.

Between 2011 and 2014, annual Ngāi Tahu Property section sales soar from 100 to 600.
In 2014 the 1,000th land transaction occurs at Wigram Skies.

The rezoning of farmland at Prestons to residential use is fast-tracked following the earthquakes and signed off in 2012. More than 360 sections are sold in the first two years to market with the development selling out by 2018.

Twenty years after inauguration as a company, Ngāi Tahu Property has grown the value of its assets to approx $500 million. These include residential master-planned developments, commercial, retail and industrial property, and a substantial investment portfolio.

Construction begins at The Landing, the town centre at the heart of Wigram Skies completing Ngāi Tahu Property’s vision for the development. The complex features an architecturally designed town square and a collection of restaurants, cafés, and retail spaces for Wigram Skies residents and greater south west Christchurch.

In late 2016, Ngāi Tahu Property open an office in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) and team up with the NZ Super Fund and New Ground Capital to invest in a housing development at Hobsonville Point, Auckland. The project, known as Kerepeti, will see 208 new homes developed by February 2019.

Site work begins on the first neighbourhood, Manakura, in the latest subdivision Karamū, Riccarton Park. Karamū is located next to Riccarton Racecourse, Christchurch and when complete will be home to around 1,600 people.

The Pita Te Hori Centre in central Christchurch was officially opened in August 2017. With two office buildings, a carpark and public gardens, this development won two PCNZ Awards for Excellence in 2018. And also the RCP Commercial Office Property Council award in 2018 and the Resene Green Building award in 2018.

A year long redevelopment of Tower Junction, consisting of two new buildings, is completed. Ngāi Tahu Property worked with Matapopore Charitable Trust, representing local mana whenua Ngāi Tūāhuriri, to incorporate Toi Māori (Māori art) that reflect the stories of mana whenua from this area of Canterbury and acknowledge its Māori history.

Ngāi Tahu Property has grown its investment portfolio to a value of approximately $600 million.

Ngāi Tahu Property announces a partnership with the Crown to develop upwards of 350 homes on the former high school site in Tāhuna. This master-planned community is gifted the name Te Pā Tāhuna by southern tangata whenua.

While COVID-19 continues to have an effect on the world, Ngāi Tahu Property looks to future developments across its Te Waipounamu takiwā (region) and beyond including in Te Ika a Māui (North Island). We are focused on building a diverse portfolio to either on-sell to generate revenue for Ngāi Tahu whānui or to hold as investment for future generations.