From labs to luxury - swanky Hamilton apartments ready for residents

Friday, 21 October 2022

The new Stark Property developed Hills Apartments, at the former Hills Laboratory site.

You’d never know that the swanky new flats at one Clyde Street once housed a science laboratory. The pebble dash facades are gone, and in are anodised aluminium louvres and stark black brickwork at Hill Apartments in Hamilton East.

For developer Matt Stark this week marks the end of what has been four years in the making. With the building’s first residents moving in this week.

“Two moved in on Monday, one on Tuesday, five arrived Wednesday, three on Thursday and the balance will roll up next week”, Stark says

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Of the 19 flats built in the former Hills Laboratories building, 17 have been sold thus far. The remaining two flats will be auctioned later this year.

Inset cabinetry and marble bench tops feature in one of the new Hills Loft Apartments.

Prices range from $595,000 for a 48sqm studio to $2.5 million for the building’s 255sqm penthouse, which comes replete with floor to ceiling windows to make the most of the complex’s expansive river views.

It seems the city is ready for lock-up-and-go type living where one’s daily needs are contained within a walkable radius.

“The response to these residences coming on the market was pretty cool”, Stark says, “The high-end ones sold first and the lower end, cheaper ones next.”

And high-end they are.

In addition to the glitzy penthouses, there are two other floor plans on offer: the midrange courtyard apartments, which feature ground level access to small private gardens, and the cheaper loft offering boasting open-plan living and private balconies.

The view of the Hills Apartments building from the West bank of the Waikato river.

Stark wouldn’t provide a breakdown of exactly how much the building costs, but said that retrofitting the residences cost near the $17 million dollar mark, the underground car park between $8-$9 million and the slope stabilisation wall at the river end of the site, a million.

If you include Stark Property’s two adjacent developments, The Anzac Apartments and the Hills Terraced Apartments, the bill comes to a cool $70 million.

For Stark and his team quality was the name of the game.

“We were firm on delivering quality and I think we delivered on that for residents.”

Inside, the building makes use of original, exposed concrete columns that run throughout, adding to the utilitarian feel of the spaces. The high stud, originally to accommodate fume hoods and laboratory conduits, helps achieve a light and airy feel even in the apartments that sit beneath the canopy of nearby trees.

Developer Matt Stark and real estate agent Basil Lennan, who sold the apartments, stand in front of refurbished building's north elevation.

Residents were able to buy directly off the plans, or they could decide for themselves which finishes and fittings would adorn their homes.

The project, which broke ground in 2019, has not been immune to Covid related pressures on labour and buildings materials, explains the site’s project manager Chris Steffert.

“We have finished the project about 12-18 months behind schedule. Any products that had to come from overseas that might have normally taken two months took between four and six months to arrive instead.”

Despite delays, Steffert says that residents were rapt to finally move in and relatively understanding of the delays given the circumstances

The new residents are varied, but all appreciate the proximity to shops, cafés and natural spaces.

“Some are from 150m down the road. We’ve got retirees and young professionals in. There’s a couple from Te Puke who have moved in and a few from the King Country as well”, Stark explains.

“We go overseas and enjoy the walkable cities there, but we get back to Hamilton and just want to jump in our cars”, Starks muses.

The Hamilton City Council agrees.

“Hills Village is a great development and delivers exactly what Council is trying to achieve in terms of greater densities near the central city and in a walkable area around it,” says council General Manager of Growth, Blair Bowcott.

There’s more to come too. Stark revealed that his company are in possession of several other sites in the city that are yet to be developed for high density residential living.

This sort of development aligns with the revised Hamilton Urban Growth Strategy which sets to increase the density of suburbs near the CBD, like Frankton, Te Rapa and Hamilton East.

Hamilton is where Stark is at home. Deferential, but with a sense of ambition he says his goal is simple: “We don’t want to be the biggest or greatest, we just want to deliver meaningful projects that enhance Hamilton.”

The new residents will be the judge of that.