Hamilton re-Made ‘brick by brick’

Monday, 6 November 2023

The multi-storey complex was one of the many innovative and revamped projects added to the list of Hamilton Property tycoon, Matt Stark and wife Jaimee at Stark Property.

Goodbye Cow Town, farewell Tron. Hamilton’s re-Made itself.

With thousands swarming the city’s newest development over a bumper opening weekend, local leaders have dubbed the success of Hamilton East’s Made market as the most significant step ahead yet for a confident city building its own future ‘brick by brick’.

During its first weekend, ‘Made’ - a stylish urban market and retail complex conjured out of a formerly dour council building - was bringing more than just the foot-traffic to Hamilton’s Grey Street but also an aroma of change and transformation to the city.

The multi-storey complex was one of the many innovative and revamped projects added to the list of Hamilton Property tycoon, Matt Stark and wife Jaimee at Stark Property.

Made was also a sign of what was to come with some suggesting the new flavour of Hamilton was creating an Auckland 2.0 affect.

But along with the bustle there was also a foreshadowing of what was to come with some suggesting the new flavour of Hamilton was creating an Auckland 2.0 effect.

Born and bred in Hamilton, Stark was given away among the throngs by the several handshakes he received from friends, colleagues and strangers when the Waikato Times visited his latest creation on Sunday.

Stark humbly reduced his hype to just being a former “builder”.

The splurge of culture and modernisation was about Hamilton claiming its “confidence” Matt Stark from Stark Property said.

It had been incredibly humbling to see Hamilton interact with Made, Stark said.

Three years after the paperwork was first signed in 2020, Made was now open.The last six months especially had been particularly busy, Stark said, with tenants signing up “one after the other”.

“We’ve had all hands on deck … it was pretty rewarding seeing people come in and the vendors have been blown away by it as well.”

During it’s first weekend on show, the Made complex was bringing an aroma of change and transformation to the garden city.

Made would be joining a spree of commercial and residential projects from Stark Property including The Panama buildings, The Riverbank Lane, The Tristram Precinct and the Hills Apartments amongst others.

The Waikato River was a focal point for Stark Property but Stark himself also credits the Riverside Market in Christchurch as a seed of inspiration for the new Hamilton East venue.

The splurge of “culture“ and modernisation however was about Hamilton claiming its “confidence”, Stark said.

Stark’s aspiration was to see people “stand and be proud” of their city but added that council had been following suit as Hamilton continued to emerge out of its “teenage” phase.

Made was a symbol of the garden city up-grading itself beyond the “Cow-town” and “Tron” labels it had carried, Hamilton City Mayor Paula Southgate said.

“I think it shows that Hamiltonians have been hanging out for this … I love Hamilton and I never like people talking down on the place and I want people to stand taller.

“We’re now becoming an adult as a city … we’ve got our rich farming background but now we’re becoming a city, the ultimate goal is that we are recognised nationally as a great place to work and live but we’ve had an identity crisis for so long.”

On a scorcher of a Sunday, the crowds were well and truly out for a gander at the latest new build on the block with around 10,000 punters estimated to have crossed the Hollywood boulevard tile floors entering the complex.

Made signalled a rejuvenation of Hamilton East that had not been seen before, Hamilton City mayor, Paula Southgate said.

Lines were forming outside the Made complex on opening day Saturday.

“Hamilton East is being reinvented brick by brick and it won’t be the only development.

“[Stark] has a genuine vision to see our city go from strength to strength … this is his home … he really wanted to play a part in rejuvenating the city and he has it in bucket-loads.”

Made had brought a sense of excitement right in time for Christmas holidays, Vanessa Williams from the Hamilton Central Business Association said.

Southgate said the flowering of commercial property was a symbol of the city “up-grading” itself beyond the “Cow-town” and “Tron” labels it had carried.

More so, Hamilton was on it’s way to competing with the appeal of nearby Auckland.

“We’re coming of age, it’s no secret that Hamilton has always been a liveable city but now we’re becoming a modern, thriving, liveable city … we’ve always been the hub of the agricultural region but we’re well past the label of a rural service town.

“We’re very lucky in Hamilton because we have a number of developers who have Hamilton in their hearts.”

The bustling eco-bistro style building with a mix of earthy textures and tones was not for the introverted with people congregating in every corner of the 2900 square meter complex while food, furniture and aesthetically blended boutique stores made a trip to ‘Made’ a full fledged experience for the average shopper.

Made was an asset and had brought a sense of excitement right in time for the Christmas holidays, Vanessa Williams from the Hamilton Central Business Association said.

It also coincided with the Boon Street Art Festival which had two murals being painted down one of the alleyways leading into Made.

“As always Stark Property have delivered a fantastic high end development and the more offerings Hamilton has, the more reason there are for people to visit.

“We are enormously supportive of the new Made development opening. We think it will be a huge draw-card for Hamilton and for both Hamilton East and the central city this will mean more people on the doorstep of local businesses.”