Grant's Kōrero: Our changing focus

For many years, we have focused on building a strong asset base to support the aspirations of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, and since its inception in 2013, Whai Rawa has grown significantly. At the end of our last financial year on 30 June 2023, our total asset value was at $1,504 million – up from $553 million on 30 June 2013.

We’ve also kept a close eye on our debt levels. The amount of our debt represents approximately 14% of our total asset value. Property companies on the New Zealand Stock Exchange mostly sit at over 30%.

That puts Whai Rawa in a strong financial position.

But the income we receive is also vitally important.  Income allows Whai Rawa to pay distributions to the Trust and to Whai Māia, allowing them to fund activities that benefit whānau – like the NIB health insurance. 

As a result, Whai Rawa and the Trust have agreed that Whai Rawa should focus not only on our asset base, but also on the income we generate from those assets.

And when we look at income, having bare land is a challenge!  We have approximately 25% of our land (valued at $360m) intended to be used to build and sell houses in the future, and which provides no or low income until then. We can develop it, and then sell houses to generate an income, as we have done at Oneoneroa.  We will keep doing that, but it takes time and money (which we borrow) and there is always risk in development (for example, in managing construction costs) so this can’t be our only strategy.

So we are looking at alternatives.  One approach is to sell some land.  With the money made from the sales, we can invest into other assets which provide income, and then use that income to provide services and benefits to whānau. We hope to do this with some of the land we bought on the North Shore.

But there is also land where selling it is not an option.  In Te Tōangaroa, instead of selling land, long term leases (for 150 years) were issued, and the land remains owned by the hapū for future generations.  That is what is proposed for 246 Ōrākei Road – that we seek a long-term lease (up to 175 years) and take the proceeds received from the lease to invest elsewhere and earn an income.

We’ll be looking at all these alternatives to increase income as a key part of Whai Rawa’s commercial strategy looking forward and keep our whānau informed of any updates.