The brothers tell Society Insider that Aka was central to their vision of the new hotel development from day one. <\/p>\n
John and Michael Chow at the finished Radisson Red on Lorne St in February. Photo \/ Facebook, Michael Chow<\/p>\n
Their Stonewood Group, which they say has $1 billion in assets across real estate and infrastructure, purchased 280 Queen St<\/a> in 2019. The 50-year-old building was formerly home to the Countrywide and National Banks. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat followed was a complete reimagining of the 15-storey property,\u201d says John. <\/p>\n \u201cNot simply a refurbishment, but a $220 million ground-up transformation into a mixed-use hospitality, retail and dining destination designed to contribute to the future of Auckland\u2019s city centre,\u201d says Michael. <\/p>\n As the city centre enters a new stage of relevance, thanks to the City Rail Link that is due to open<\/a> in the second half of this year, the brothers, who own multimillion-dollar homes in Auckland\u2019s eastern suburbs and a home at Jacks Point, Queenstown, say they are proud of the building they have created. <\/p>\n One of their Auckland homes is in a swanky street in St Heliers and the other is on an equally gentrified street in \u014cr\u0101kei, which they had on the market last year<\/a> and were seeking offers of more than $10m. <\/p>\n The hotel is the first Radisson Red to open in New Zealand, and John says they\u2019re proud to bring the brand here. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s also the first Radisson Red in Australasia, which reflects both the scale of the opportunity we saw here and our confidence in Auckland as an international destination,\u201d says Michael. <\/p>\n The development has created a pedestrian thoroughfare between 280 Queen Street and 33 Lorne Street, connecting two of the CBD\u2019s key streets and establishing a new laneway featuring retail offerings. <\/p>\n Two months ago, the brothers handed over the 322-guest-room hotel to Tim Cordon, COO of the Radisson Hotel Group for the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia Pacific. <\/p>\n \u201cStonewood has delivered the development, with Radisson Hotel Group now operating the hotel in a partnership that brings global expertise together with a strong local vision,\u201d says John. <\/p>\n Stonewood Group has retained ownership of Aka (Chinese and Japanese for \u201cred\u201d), which the Chow brothers have made their own hospitality passion project. <\/p>\n It was inspired by a trip to London in 2017, where they visited Sushisamba, a restaurant on the 39th floor of Bishopsgate\u2019s Heron Tower. They dreamed of creating something similar in Auckland. <\/p>\n Radisson Red is the Chows\u2019 fifth hotel development. Their most recent openings were the Pullman Rotorua in 2020<\/a> and the Oaks Hotel Wellington<\/a> on Courtenay Place in 2019. <\/p>\n The brothers\u2019 property career began on Courtenay Place in 1999 when they bought the old ANZ Bank building, 500m from their family\u2019s takeaway shop. <\/p>\n Their parents started the shop after the family moved to New Zealand from Hong Kong in 1984, when John was 13 and Michael was 9. <\/p>\n The brothers went on to run the takeaway, saving up for their first building purchase. <\/p>\n Wellington\u2019s leasing market wasn\u2019t strong in the early 90s, and seeing their sons were overleveraged, their parents, Thomas and Rose, sold the family home in Lower Hutt and the whole family moved into the empty building\u2019s first floor, including their sisters Vicki and Jenny, and John\u2019s wife, Connie. <\/p>\n An offer John rejected, of a strip club moving into the ground floor, led to the brothers changing tack and in 2000 they went into partnership with an Auckland strip club owner to set up Mermaids in Wellington. It was the beginning of an era where the Chow brothers became kings of the adult entertainment industry, owning strip clubs and brothels in both cities. <\/p>\n In 2016, with a sizeable property portfolio already established, the Chows purchased one of New Zealand\u2019s biggest residential building franchises, Stonewood Homes, and over the next three years wound down their remaining Mermaids strip club businesses in Wellington and Auckland in 2019. Parent company Stonewood Group was created to primarily focus on property development, hotels and construction. <\/p>\n Sisters Vicki and Jenny are directors at Stonewood group, along with former Prime Minister Sir John Key as strategic adviser<\/a>, and Key\u2019s son Max as an executive director. The Keys first partnered with the Chows in 2022 through their property development firm MTK Capital to form Stonewood Key Capital<\/a>. The investment fund builds residential housing developments and bridges investments between China and New Zealand. <\/p>\n John Key was with the brothers last November when Michael celebrated his 50th birthday on the Radisson Red rooftop space, which was nearing completion at the time. <\/p>\n Now complete, Aka is ready for its opening party next week. Covering 800sq m and seating 300 people, it features an outdoor bar and private spaces under a retractable roof. It also offers 260-degree city and harbour views, making it larger than other rooftop bars such as Bar Albert and Queens Rooftop Bar, with an outlook from Albert Park to the harbour. <\/p>\n The interiors feature deep reds, velvet textures and marble finishes, alongside modern Asian-style design elements designed to create a wow factor. At the centre sits the rooftop bar, anchored by an installation reminiscent of a modern cherry blossom canopy, complemented with lanterns. <\/p>\n On Wednesday evening more than 200 guests will attend Aka\u2019s opening, including motoring influencer Taylor Serage, man about town Colin Mathura-Jeffree<\/a>, wellness couple Marc Ellis and Mibella Villafana, bespoke tailor Murray Crane<\/a> and entrepreneur Edna Swart. New Zealand pop star Cassie Henderson<\/a> will perform while guests enjoy cocktails and mini menu offerings. <\/p>\n The following day, the Chows will host an event for stakeholders, which is understood to include a number of rich listers, as well as Auckland Mayor and friend of the Chows, Wayne Brown, his deputy Desley Simpson and John Key. <\/p>\n Aka\u2019s head chef is Edberg Loh, a seasoned Asian fusion chef with more than a decade of experience across Singapore\u2019s high-intensity kitchens, such as Marina Bay Sands, as well as Auckland restaurants including Cafe Hanoi and Xuxu Dumpling Bar.<\/p>\n Loh\u2019s signature offerings at Aka include king prawn har gow with tobiko and wagyu beef pa Peking duck; crispy and fragrant karaage chicken with yuzu and togarashi; deep-fried pork and prawn shumai with XO sauce; and a focus on premium seafood. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s been particularly rewarding through the early tastings is seeing how the space evolves from something more refined during the day into a vibrant, social environment in the evening,\u201d says John Chow. <\/p>\n The brothers have trusted bar specialist Nick Bevin, formerly of The Churchill and Kingi at The Hotel Britomart, to curate the cocktail and beverage programme. <\/p>\n Society Insider is told Aka is expected to become the new favourite hangout for Auckland\u2019s movers and shakers in the business community, the local arts crowd, and A-listers. <\/p>\n The Queens of Corporate Events <\/p>\n Events expert Rochelle Moffitt and e-commerce multimillionaire entrepreneur Iyia Liu have enlisted some superstar speakers for their upcoming corporate summits. <\/p>\n Moffitt\u2019s Revved, which she co-founded with Zeil founder Anna Mowbray, one of New Zealand\u2019s wealthiest women, will take place on August 6 at the Viaduct Events Centre, with a roster of high-profile NZ businesspeople on the bill. <\/p>\n Liu\u2019s Girls in Business is on September 5 at the newly opened NZ International Convention Centre, with successful female speakers including Toni Street, Jenny May Clarkson and Dame Valerie Adams. <\/p>\n Moffitt says she and Liu are not in competition with each other and their events are aimed at different audiences. <\/p>\n \u201cIyia and I regularly share insights on suppliers, costs and lessons learned; that kind of collaboration strengthens the entire industry,\u201d says Moffitt. <\/p>\n Revved came about after Mowbray\u2019s disappointment with motivational speaker David Goggins\u2019 event at Auckland\u2019s Trusts Arena in November 2024. <\/p>\n Enlisted as one of the event\u2019s guest speakers, Mowbray said at the time she expected it to have been a day to inspire, educate and motivate, but instead \u201cfelt like a series of high-pressure sales pitches\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter Anna spoke out about it publicly, I messaged her saying someone needed to create the event people deserved,\u201d Moffitt tells Society Insider. <\/p>\n Mowbray said if Moffitt built the event she would back it. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd she has \u2013 with her time, strategic advice and the Zeil team stepping in whenever needed,\u201d Moffitt says. <\/p>\n The pair met at one of the late entrepreneur Jake Millar\u2019s Unfiltered events a decade ago. Moffitt and Mowbray became great friends. Moffitt was the celebrant at Mowbray\u2019s wedding to former All Black Ali Williams<\/a> on Fiji\u2019s Kokomo Private Island in 2022. <\/p>\n Moffitt\u2019s sister is actor Kim Crossman and their mum, Jill Arkley, founded and owned the Auckland Academy of Dance, which had more than 1500 pupils. <\/p>\n Three years ago, Moffitt set up Tickled Pink Agency, a talent management and brand-building agency for professionals, including politicians and business leaders, which Moffitt has recently renamed Decibel Agency. <\/p>\n A few months later, she started a corporate women\u2019s series called Sip & Share, a bimonthly series of networking events for 100 guests at corporate offices, including the New Zealand head offices of Google, Microsoft and BNZ. There, Moffitt interviewed successful women about their career stories. Mowbray was her first guest. <\/p>\n The first Revved was held last year at The Viaduct Events Centre, with about 700 attendees, and a special lighting up of the Sky Tower in Revved\u2019s logo colours of green and blue to mark the occasion. <\/p>\n Speakers for the inaugural event included Mowbray and Williams, businessman and former TV presenter Sir Ian Taylor<\/a>, Tend co-founder Cecilia Robinson<\/a> and Kiwibank CEO, Steve Jurkovich<\/a>. <\/p>\n Moffitt is aiming for 800 to 1000 guests this year and says the event will be designed around \u201cpersonal, professional and purposeful development\u201d. Mowbray will return and host a panel called So What\u2019s Next? Other speaking slots include Air NZ CEO Nikhil Ravishankar<\/a>, One NZ CEO Jason Paris<\/a> and insurance pioneer Naomi Ballantyne<\/a>, who founded the business Partners for Life, which was sold for a billion dollars to Japanese company Dai-ichi Life Holdings in 2022. <\/p>\n That evening, Ballantyne will be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame Laureates. <\/p>\n \u201cWith an election looming, this is a consequential time for New Zealand and no one can navigate it alone,\u201d Moffitt says. \u201cRevved is about bringing people together to engineer the future we want, together.\u201d <\/p>\n Mowbray says this year\u2019s Revved will be a day of honest conversations. \u201cOur Revved speakers will leave no doubt that we\u2019re facing exponential change \u2013 and share the radical steps they\u2019re taking,\u201d says Mowbray. \u201cWhat we do, or don\u2019t do, next will shape the future we hand to the next generation.\u201d <\/p>\n Moffitt says she loves connecting people and seeing what comes from it \u2013 friendships, business opportunities, even life-changing moments. <\/p>\n \u201cI remember people, I see opportunities and I act on them. I\u2019m a connector and I\u2019m very intentional about it. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something powerful about putting the right people in proximity, that\u2019s where magic things happen,\u201d says Moffitt. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Liu\u2019s Girls In Business<\/a> is entering its 10th year. <\/p>\n Liu started her event as a small gathering of like-minded women and she says it has grown into New Zealand\u2019s largest women\u2019s business event. <\/p>\n Last year\u2019s event had 800 attendees and Liu would like to hit that number again, but says the venue at the NZICC has capacity for 1200. <\/p>\nThe Radisson Red hotel opened in February. Photo \/ LinkedIn, John Chow<\/p>\n
John Chow and\u00a0Tim Cordon outside the Lorne St entrance of Radisson Red.\u00a0Photo \/ LinkedIn, John Chow<\/p>\n
Michael and John Chow on the rooftop at Aka. Photo \/ Supplied <\/p>\n
Michael Chow, Sir John Key and John Chow at the opening of the Chows’ Pullman Hotel Rotorua in 2020. <\/p>\n
Michael and John Chow. Photo \/ Facebook, Michael Chow <\/p>\n
Michael and John Chow will open Aka next week. Photo \/ LinkedIn, John Chow<\/p>\n
Aka, the new rooftop bar and restaurant at Radisson Red Auckland, offers 260-degree city and harbour views. Photo \/ LinkedIn, John Chow <\/p>\n
Aka boasts modern Asian-style design elements designed to create a wow factor. Photo \/ LinkedIn, John Chow <\/p>\n
Michael and John Chow celebrated with re-elected Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown last year. Photo \/ LinkedIn, John Chow<\/p>\n
Aka\u2019s head chef Edberg Loh. Photo \/ Supplied <\/p>\n
A selection of dishes at Aka, where there will be a focus on premium seafood. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Michael and John Chow on the rooftop at Aka. Photo \/ Supplied <\/p>\n
Anna Mowbray and Rochelle Moffitt co-founded Revved. Photo \/ Instagram @Rochelle.was.here<\/p>\n
Rochelle Moffitt co-founded Revved.<\/p>\n
Rochelle Moffitt interviews Anna Mowbray at the first Revved last year. Photo \/ Roshan Nama <\/p>\n
Sir Ian Taylor speaks at the first Revved last year. Photo \/ Roshan Nama <\/p>\n
Girls in Business founder Ilya Liu. Photo \/ Instagram @Iyialiu<\/p>\n
Iyia Liu and Carmen Vicelich at last year’s Girls in Business. Photo \/ Girlsinbusiness.org.nz <\/p>\n