{"id":499633,"date":"2026-06-28T13:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/499633\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T13:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:33:18","slug":"iwi-housing-group-rescues-failed-rotorua-development-mountview-green-to-build-39-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/499633\/","title":{"rendered":"Iwi housing group rescues failed Rotorua development Mountview Green to build 39 homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rogers said Roto Whare\u2019s<\/a> funder, Arena, was based in New York, and it was a difficult deal to strike, but they managed to negotiate buying 39 lots from the receiver, Calibre Partners, by mortgagee sale.<\/p>\n

Under the deal, they bought 21 completed homes, six under construction and 12 part-finished but needing to be demolished because they had become ruined when the project was abandoned.<\/p>\n

Work got underway to finish off the civil works, stormwater infrastructure and parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big job to tidy it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" An aerial shot of K\u014dhanga R\u0101kau Housing’s rescued Koutu development, outlined in red.<\/p>\n

Rogers said they tried to employ tradespeople left out-of-pocket from the first development.<\/p>\n

He said the finished homes were well-designed two- and three-bedroom terrace homes that would help address the affordable housing crisis and lack of supply identified in Rotorua a few years ago.<\/p>\n

It was great to be part of a good news story of an iwi trust that \u201crescued a failed development\u201d, Rogers said.<\/p>\n

The completed homes take K\u014dhanga R\u0101kau Housing\u2019s housing portfolio to 142 homes, including the \u014cwhata<\/a> and Te Puke projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor K\u014dhanga R\u0101kau Housing, this isn\u2019t just about building homes. It\u2019s about building thriving communities, with housing as an anchor for stability where safe, new and warm homes are provided.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" \u014cwhata 2B and 7 Ahuwhenua Trusts chairman Jason Rogers. <\/p>\n

Before K\u014dhanga R\u0101kau Housing bought the lots from the receivers, the original developer had finished 21 homes, meaning the total housing project had 60 homes.<\/p>\n

The first stages of completed homes were occupied, with 53 wh\u0101nau already settled in \u2013 23 adults, including elderly, and 30 children. The remaining stages would be tenanted over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Rogers said their strategy was to be there for the long term, so families had security and would not face the uncertainty of landlords selling overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat focus helps wh\u0101nau put their roots down and build lasting connections to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers said they felt they had a duty to see the homes in Koutu finished and partnered with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and funder Community Finance to make it happen.<\/p>\n

\" An aerial shot of K\u014dhanga R\u0101kau Housing’s rescued development at Koutu.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year our first cohort of families moved in, and it\u2019s rewarding to hear how happy wh\u0101nau are to be given an opportunity to come into brand new housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those living in the homes pay 80% of the market rent under the ministry\u2019s affordable rentals scheme.<\/p>\n

Ministry Te T\u016b\u0101papa Kura K\u0101inga director Jamie Forsman said these types of partnerships with iwi and M\u0101ori providers were vital for those who faced barriers to private rental tenancy and home ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurning the tide on housing will take time and we are working hard to make a difference. We are pleased that these new homes will help improve the situation in Rotorua.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Invited guests at K\u014dhanga R\u0101kau Housing’s recently completed development at Koutu.<\/p>\n

Those involved in the project came together recently for an official launch, signage reveal and walk-through of completed homes.<\/p>\n

The original developer for the Mountainview Green project was Aucklander Marcus Jacobson.<\/p>\n

He also runs a company called Watchman Capital, which is building 202 houses at Ngongotah\u0101<\/a>, in partnership with the Government. <\/p>\n

Jacobsen told the Rotorua Daily Post this week that the a \u201cgood outcome\u201d was achieved for the Koutu development.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally pleased to see Mountview Green deliver housing for a community that needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the first homes at the Ngongotah\u0101 development would be delivered later this year. <\/p>\n

Kelly Makiha<\/a> is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rogers said Roto Whare\u2019s funder, Arena, was based in New York, and it was a difficult deal to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[158361,3269,170,12513,2518,209,6800,3339,50521,249771,111,43,139,69,52086,1327,61],"class_list":["post-499633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-158361","tag-build","tag-development","tag-failed","tag-green","tag-group","tag-homes","tag-housing","tag-iwi","tag-mountview","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rescues","tag-rotorua","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}