September 17, 2025 • 4 mins
Christchurch-headquartered Brooksfield Homes is looking to bring a new style of townhouse to Auckland.
Reports claim the company's planned eight new Pt Chevalier homes on two sites, with a projected end valuation of $11.6 million.
Brooksfield Homes managing director Vincent Holloway says a lot of people want to live in similar heritage properties found in Grey Lynn or Ponsonby - but prices keep many out of reach.
"People are wanting that in a home, so we aim to do that in a smaller scale in a cheaper area, basically."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you ever wondered why all these new townhouses that
are popping up everywhere just so ugly? You're not alone
if you're wondering that. One christ Church developer Reckons Auckland's
developments are quote awful, and he's bringing his colonial style
new builds to the North. Managing director of Brooksfield's Homes,
Vincent Holloway, is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey, Vincent, hi, here the how are you very well?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Now?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Your houses are beautiful. Why aren't developers doing this already?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm not sure. It's probably something to do with a
lack of imagination, I'd say, but.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Really, I mean, because all you have to do is
look around, you know, Point Sheev, Grayland, Pons and b.
You don't have to imagine that this stuff has been
built before, So why not just replicate it?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, that's exactly what we do in a sense. And
when we've started designing and selling homes in Auckland, and
when we've gone up there, we see that a lot
of people want to be living in those areas like
Point Chief, Grayland, Pons and Bee with the cute timberweatherboard villa.
It's obviously out of reach for a lot of people.
In terms of price, but people are wanting that in
(01:02):
a home, so you know, we aim to do that
in a smaller scale and a cheaper area.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Basically, the way that you build your townhouses in the
old colonial style is it perhaps more expensive than what
the other developers are doing in the styles that they are.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I wouldn't have thought. So, you know, the whole reason
that a classical or a colonial home looks the way
it is is for two reasons. The first, they cared
about the appearance and spend a week bit more time
and energy on that. But the other reason is because
they lacked a lot of the time, in places like
New Zealand and Australia, really skilled tradesmen and money. So
(01:40):
when you actually look at an old Ponsonby villa, it's
extremely simple in the way that it's usually you know,
a box with possibly a projecting bay window. So they're
a very simple house in the way of construction because
they're just effectively a box. But they're very pretty because
(02:01):
where they were able to, you know, they spend a
little bit of money and time on detail.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Are you going to be limited in where you can
re you know, build these houses to maximize your income
because they are single story and in a lot of
places in Auckland now we're going.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Up, well, a lot of our homes we do do
a lot of single story homes, and we do single
story homes with rooms in the attic as well, so
that you know, they'll look like a single story home
but actually two Yeah, but we also do and the
ones an orphan that we're doing as well in point
sheer of a two story. So there are slightly different
typology than an exactly, you know, exactly a bay villa.
(02:37):
They are a bit smaller, so one hundred to about
one hundred and thirty square meters, and they're also in
a smaller section as well, so we're not too limited.
And I mean the classical classical architecture as well comes
in many shapes and forms. I mean, you know, you
go to Rome or London or Paris and you'll see,
you know, five six story classical townhouses that are absolutely
(03:00):
beautiful as well.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Do you reckon? This is the trick to perhaps getting
people on board is a little bit more densification, is
that you're able to densify while building in the style
of the suburb.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Definitely. I think if you look around a lot of
the nimbees have a problem with the ugliness if you
really get into it, not the densification. It's actually really
great to live in a suburb with a diverse mix
of people and more people that does good things for
people that already live there. I think the issue is
in the issue I have with my neighbors as well,
is that the people cotly building new homes now are
(03:36):
building horrifically ugly things, and no one wants to live
next door to one. And I understand completely.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah to hey, listen, Vincent, thank you very much. I
really appreciate your time. It's Vincent Holloway of Brooksfield Homes.
If you look, do me a favor. Do me a favor.
Go and look at Brooksfield Homes and the colonial style
townhouses they're doing, and you'll know what I mean when
you see them. They're sort of like three little, three
little villas stuck together. Now, we're not long ago. Actually,
(04:04):
before babies, I was living in a place very similar
to that. We owned a place and ponds of bee
like that. Had to sell it obviously because it was
like child killer situation. The steepness of the stairs and
you know, there's no yard for the kids to run
around and stuff like that that would have been built
it from if my memory serves me correctly, around the
turn of the century, So maybe like nineteen I want
to say, nineteen hundred, maybe nineteen teen at a push, right,
(04:27):
and it basically looks exactly like what Vincent is building.
Go and have a look at it, and then tell
me if you have a problem with that popping up
next door, because I would have no problem at the
beautiful little townhouses, much more pretty, as he says, than
anything else he's seeing going up at the moment.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news Talks.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
Have you ever wondered why all these new townhouses that
are popping up everywhere just so ugly? You're not alone
if you're wondering that. One christ Church developer Reckons Auckland's
developments are quote awful, and he's bringing his colonial style
new builds to the North. Managing director of Brooksfield's Homes,
Vincent Holloway, is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey, Vincent, hi, here the how are you very well?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Now?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Your houses are beautiful. Why aren't developers doing this already?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm not sure. It's probably something to do with a
lack of imagination, I'd say, but.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Really, I mean, because all you have to do is
look around, you know, Point Sheev, Grayland, Pons and b.
You don't have to imagine that this stuff has been
built before, So why not just replicate it?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, that's exactly what we do in a sense. And
when we've started designing and selling homes in Auckland, and
when we've gone up there, we see that a lot
of people want to be living in those areas like
Point Chief, Grayland, Pons and Bee with the cute timberweatherboard villa.
It's obviously out of reach for a lot of people.
In terms of price, but people are wanting that in
(01:02):
a home, so you know, we aim to do that
in a smaller scale and a cheaper area.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Basically, the way that you build your townhouses in the
old colonial style is it perhaps more expensive than what
the other developers are doing in the styles that they are.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I wouldn't have thought. So, you know, the whole reason
that a classical or a colonial home looks the way
it is is for two reasons. The first, they cared
about the appearance and spend a week bit more time
and energy on that. But the other reason is because
they lacked a lot of the time, in places like
New Zealand and Australia, really skilled tradesmen and money. So
(01:40):
when you actually look at an old Ponsonby villa, it's
extremely simple in the way that it's usually you know,
a box with possibly a projecting bay window. So they're
a very simple house in the way of construction because
they're just effectively a box. But they're very pretty because
(02:01):
where they were able to, you know, they spend a
little bit of money and time on detail.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Are you going to be limited in where you can
re you know, build these houses to maximize your income
because they are single story and in a lot of
places in Auckland now we're going.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Up, well, a lot of our homes we do do
a lot of single story homes, and we do single
story homes with rooms in the attic as well, so
that you know, they'll look like a single story home
but actually two Yeah, but we also do and the
ones an orphan that we're doing as well in point
sheer of a two story. So there are slightly different
typology than an exactly, you know, exactly a bay villa.
(02:37):
They are a bit smaller, so one hundred to about
one hundred and thirty square meters, and they're also in
a smaller section as well, so we're not too limited.
And I mean the classical classical architecture as well comes
in many shapes and forms. I mean, you know, you
go to Rome or London or Paris and you'll see,
you know, five six story classical townhouses that are absolutely
(03:00):
beautiful as well.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Do you reckon? This is the trick to perhaps getting
people on board is a little bit more densification, is
that you're able to densify while building in the style
of the suburb.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Definitely. I think if you look around a lot of
the nimbees have a problem with the ugliness if you
really get into it, not the densification. It's actually really
great to live in a suburb with a diverse mix
of people and more people that does good things for
people that already live there. I think the issue is
in the issue I have with my neighbors as well,
is that the people cotly building new homes now are
(03:36):
building horrifically ugly things, and no one wants to live
next door to one. And I understand completely.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah to hey, listen, Vincent, thank you very much. I
really appreciate your time. It's Vincent Holloway of Brooksfield Homes.
If you look, do me a favor. Do me a favor.
Go and look at Brooksfield Homes and the colonial style
townhouses they're doing, and you'll know what I mean when
you see them. They're sort of like three little, three
little villas stuck together. Now, we're not long ago. Actually,
(04:04):
before babies, I was living in a place very similar
to that. We owned a place and ponds of bee
like that. Had to sell it obviously because it was
like child killer situation. The steepness of the stairs and
you know, there's no yard for the kids to run
around and stuff like that that would have been built
it from if my memory serves me correctly, around the
turn of the century, So maybe like nineteen I want
to say, nineteen hundred, maybe nineteen teen at a push, right,
(04:27):
and it basically looks exactly like what Vincent is building.
Go and have a look at it, and then tell
me if you have a problem with that popping up
next door, because I would have no problem at the
beautiful little townhouses, much more pretty, as he says, than
anything else he's seeing going up at the moment.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news Talks.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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