Grant’s kōrero: Whai Rawa’s focus for 2024
It’s been good start to 2024 with our team feeling refreshed and seeing the people in Te Tōangaroa near our Whai Rawa and Trust offices embrace the warm weather as they return to work. Looking ahead, two of our driving long-term objectives are increasing the revenue from our investments and diversifying the number of different business sectors we are exposed to, and in 2024 we want to make progress on both fronts.
Whai Rawa is a property business, and particularly in a difficult economic environment like now, goals like these take time and focus. There will be challenges to face, but also good opportunities that will emerge which we will need to move quickly on.
On the topic of opportunities, we still have three units available at our whānau housing development, Hawaiki. Those who have already purchased a unit and visited the site have shared with us how delighted they are with the size and views from their new homes. It’s not too late to be a part of this special opportunity, but it’s first in first served.
We will also continue to focus on Te Tōangaroa in 2024. We are aiming to attract new investment into the precinct, and to cultivate further vibrancy to attract more people. As we do this, we look also to a wider goal of increasing the presence and recognition of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as tangata whenua.
Owning a central city precinct like Te Tōangaroa puts Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in quite a unique position globally as an indigenous people. This should be celebrated not just by whānau, but by the people of Tāmaki Makaurau.
You may have seen in the media lately that something else currently being recognised is the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei collaboration with BNZ. The result of this is a new lending model making home loans for houses situated on land owned by iwi and hapū possible. BNZ hopes this will become a gateway to greater ownership of housing for Māori elsewhere too. For nearly a year, the Whai Rawa team worked hard behind the scenes alongside our lawyers at Russell McVeagh to make this collaboration happen. We thank both teams for all the effort that went into getting this across the line.
On a final note, we have a fantastic opportunity available with the launch of the Taku Taunga scholarship in partnership with Precinct Properties. Taku Taunga is a shared commitment to growing the capability of our Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei whānau particularly in property and business. I encourage those who are pursuing tertiary studies in those fields to apply, more details here. Karawhiua koutou!
