We’ve been doing this for 30 years, but it’s a changing space. We’ve moved between major projects and Micro Developments, commercial and residential, and sometimes stayed out of the market entirely.
A brief history of our property syndication deals
Not long after GS was formed, we started doing a lot in the property development funding space.
These were a bit of a mix at first. We did some greenfield, some warehouse conversions, some office block conversions. We had some interesting ones in Central Auckland. Freemans Bay, Albert Street, Victoria Street, High Street, Federal Street, Emily Place.
We raised capital from a group of investors to fund and help set up Kiwi Self Storage. Since then, we’ve exited (profitably) and the business is still a major player in their space.
More recently we’ve done a lot of capital raising for reasonably large Central Auckland commercial refurbs, and have also been active in greenfield developments in South Auckland, Canterbury, Queenstown, North Auckland and Whangarei.
Our criteria for property developments
Yes, we are active in the Auckland market. Where we can get reasonably priced land and a good developer, we’re happy to fund deals. Our sweet spot is usually $3 – 10m of funding required from us, and we rank behind the mortgage and mez lending. We will also look outside of Auckland if we feel we know the market well enough.
We think of syndicates as (metaphorical) partnerships, so we won’t fund anything where the risk and return to developers isn’t balanced with what investors are getting.
This can go either way – we won’t raise capital if we think the investors are getting the lion’s share. Developers take risk too.
We have our benchmark margins and returns, and if you’re interested you should call us to have a chat about these.
What we’re currently in the market for
“Micro developments”
We’ve set up a managed fund to equity fund small (2-8 townhouse/apartment developments) in Auckland. This is to help developers pick up some of the plethora of opportunities that the Unitary Plan has created. This lets developers build out a portfolio of small developments in an efficient way.
At the same time, it reduces the disproportionate risk that we’ve seen with larger contractors recently.
We work with a number of developers on sourcing these deals and are always looking for more, as well as more well-priced sites in Auckland.
Larger residential intensification projects
Sort of your 8-80 lot developments. These are appealing to our investors as the returns are usually attractive, and the timeframe is a bit longer so there’s not so much mucking around.
Next steps
If you’re looking for funding, OR you’re an investor looking for some interesting development opportunities, get in touch using the details below. You must be a wholesale or eligible investor to participate in our syndicates.
