Hamilton’s Peacocke development spreads its wings on rising demand

Saturday, 24 May 2025

Checking out progress in Peacocke are Hamilton City Council staff, from left, greenfield growth programme manager Sonia Baker, sustainable communities unit director Karen Saunders, and project engineer Tahl Lawrence.

Hamilton’s next big housing area is spreading its wings, with several hundred homes already built and many times that in the pipeline.

The 740-hectare Peacocke area sits to Hamilton’s south and new figures show a recent surge in interest.

Getting it right is high-stakes, with infrastructure in the area expected to have soaked up more than $660 million by 2034.

City council staff showing off stage 3 development of Whatukooruru Dr at Peacocke. A bridge will connect the two sections seen here, with the project due to be completed next year. Aurora development housing is in the background.

The new bridge is a piece of key infrastructure that’s made a difference, sustainable communities unit direct Karen Saunders said. Pictured is Te Ara Pekapeka bridge.

While a tight economy has slowed action in recent years, it’s looking up now with key planks now in place, Hamilton City Council says.

Sustainable communities unit direct Karen Saunders said the completion of the Te Ara Pekapeka river bridge and key wastewater infrastructure last year helped generate a “spurt” of development interest, including from outside Hamilton.

“Now that the strategic infrastructure is in place …that’s when developers are starting to come in [and] look for opportunities to purchase land and really start to develop.”

Key council staff involved with Peacocke are (left to right) Sonia Baker, greenfield growth programme manager, the sustainable communities unit director Karen Saunders and project engineer Tahl Lawrence.

That’s backed up by the latest data from the city council, which paints a more confident picture.

It says that, since 2018, some 386 homes had been built in Peacocke and 75 more had building consent.

In progress now are subdivision consents to create space for around 1300 homes and resource consent applications for another 700 homes.

Some of the housing already in place at Peacocke.

Lots of “pre-application activity” is also happening, where developers and builders talk through plans with the council, and there are plans to crack on with earthworks for new subdivisions over the coming summer.

Finishing Whatukooruru Dr by next year will be another key part of completing the infrastructure puzzle so the area is ready “for when the market picks up”, Saunders said. That road will allow people to drive over the bridge and connect directly to Ōhaupō Rd near Glenview.

Builders and developers have said they’re now more confident about Peacocke and are actively looking for opportunities, Saunders said.

Back in 2019 the projections were for 3750 homes in 10 years with a goal of more than 8000 within 30 years.

That’s been scaled back a bit because, since initial estimates in 2016-17, there had been the Covid-19 pandemic and an economic downturn, Saunders said.

Current projections are for another 2000 homes by 2034, depending on market conditions and developer decisions, while up to 7400 extra homes are envisaged over 40 years.

Strategic growth and district plan committee chairperson Sarah Thomson says “large greenfield developments do take time”.

City council infrastructure and transport committee chairperson Angela O’Leary says she’s encouraged by the extra interest in Peracocke developments.

With 90% of a $180 million Peacocke loan from the Government due to be repaid from development contributions, Saunders was confident of achieving that. “Our projections are showing that is the case right now.”

Hamilton’s infrastructure and transport committee chairperson Angela O’Leary said: “It’s great to see developers are starting to look at putting in more houses.”

She had thought tougher economic times might have seen a slower response to the new infrastructure.

O’Leary was confident of Peacocke delivering on its goals.

Finishing Whatukooruru Drive, so it will link up with Ōhaupō Road (State Highway 3), is one of the next key projects.

Economic development committee chairperson Ewan Wilson thinks more “optimism” is coming back to the property market generally in Hamilton.

Strategic growth and district plan committee chairperson Sarah Thomson felt many developers had been waiting for the housing market to lift again before ramping up work.

“Right now things [at Peacocke] are slower than anticipated but there’s a lot of work going into consents and getting ready to go when the market picks up.”

She was happy with where things are at, saying “large greenfield developments do take time”.

Economic development committee chairperson Ewan Wilson was “optimistic” uptake of opportunities at Peacocke would lift. “I think a little optimism is coming back”.

He was “confident Peacocke will evolve into the suburb we envisaged” - the council “needs to stay on the case to make sure it happens”.

Northview Capital, a joint venture between Hamilton’s Jones Group and others, is the most active developer in Peacocke at the moment with the Aurora subdivision near Ōhaupō Rd.

An aerial view of some of Peacocke’s bare land.

It has completed and sold land to accommodate over 180 homes with more than half built or currently under construction.

Real Estate Institute data indicated that Aurora section sales had accounted for about 45% of all Hamilton section sales in the past year, said Jones Group and Northview director Tristan Jones.

“As the market continues to improve, we plan to significantly increase supply to support the growing demand from purchasers looking to position themselves in the Peacocke growth cell.”

Jones said the council was reviewing how its processes could keep up with Northview’s growth rate.

“We are currently in active discussions with Hamilton City Council to ensure the continued development of the area and maintain a consistent release of sections to meet market demand and support the ongoing supply of housing.”

One builder, speaking anonymously, wished Whatukooruru Rd had been fully done at the same time as the bridge to help with potential buyer access to Aurora. But Jones was happy with the way the council was handling things.

Cornerstone Developments owner Mike Callagher said they owned 7ha near the new bridge but didn’t have a start date for any housing.

“We look forward to developing in Peacocke… it’s an exciting subdivision,” said Callagher.

“We’ll see what the future holds.”

Urban Homes founder Daniel Klinkenberg’s firm has done builds at Aurora and has several currently on the go.

“We’ll certainly have some involvement on an ongoing basis.”

On whether his firm would get involved on a larger scale, he said: “We’re always looking at that but it’s early days.”

McQuarrie Developments owner Steve Chatwin said his firm tended to develop in brownfield as opposed to greenfield areas like Peacocke.

But he wasn’t ruling out involvement. “We’re not averse to buying out there. I’ve looked half-heartedly at a couple of options.”