Nigel Richards, GM McConnell Property, loves to beat the odds.

As he heads towards one of the more significant birthdays in his lifetime he has recently completed his annual physical challenge – 120 kilometres a day of kayaking, mountain biking and tramping - a well planned ‘off the beaten track’ event that he has been organising and taking part in with three mates for six years.

“This year we went from Cape Reinga to Takapuna; after five years of traversing the South Island from Farewell Spit to Bluff,” he says.

It’s the old adage; healthy body equals healthy mind, and one Nigel tries to live by.

An engineer by training, even running his own consultancy company at one time, it is property development that presses his buttons.

“Taking an idea through to something that you can touch and feel, and potentially own.”

And over the past three years, with major shifts in the NZ property development industry, through the Global Financial Crisis and the collapse of financiers, he is still just as keen.

But the landscape has fundamentally altered.

“More than 50% of developers have gone through and the mezzanine finance industry has basically died, severely tarnishing the image of development in the eyes of ‘Mum and Dad investors’, because of poor investment decisions,” says Nigel.

“The developers that have survived, like ourselves, are fiscally disciplined in how they engage with the market.

He emphasises the importance of good governance and integrity.

“We are now getting calls directed to us because of this reputation,” he says.

“We innovate and we partner, working with capital partners, tenants, land owners and investors. Historically we began in residential and then gravitated to commercial. We have some long term projects, like Addison and Anselmi residential projects and the business park, Titanium Park. What I am looking to do is to bring a balance with shorter term projects, plus development management services.”

He recognises the depth of resources and experience in the McConnell Property team.

“While we have had to resize our business to cope with the contraction in the market our core team has been here for seven years. We are not a ‘single competency’ practice. We have a depth of project management, development management, sales and marketing, and financial skills. We don’t have an in-house design capability, choosing to manage and match project, by project.

“We are extremely good at knowing whether a development proposition is workable, putting the research in to ensure that we have a robust business case right at the start of a project. And we are also strong in mitigating and managing risk throughout the development process which gives financial investors confidence.”

For the developer of tomorrow Nigel sees two main investment avenues.

“The one man band developers with little or no equity are gone. Banks are much more conditional with their support. The opportunities will come from high net worth private investors and over time, a shift to the Australian model, which has strong support from institutional investors. But again they will all be looking for credible developers,” he says.

So who is McConnell Group?

McConnell Group is made up of a group of complementary businesses - Hawkins Construction, Hawkins Infrastructure, McConnell Property, Steelpipe, Harker Underground Construction and Element NZ. As one of New Zealand's largest privately owned construction, property and infrastructure groups our passion is 'creating and building project based businesses.' More>>

Who leads McConnell Group?

What is the role of McConnell Group?