Du Val developed Manukau’s high-rise Lakewood Plaza at Lakewood Court. Photo / Tom Dillane
Auckland residential developer Du Val Group is considering how it will grow but its chief says it has not yet decided how.
Charlotte Clarke, chief executive and co-founder with husband Kenyon Clarke, said today Du Val was currently evaluating a number of options to support the company’s growth strategy -specifically the delivery of 1000 homes per year into the Auckland housing market.
“Plans are yet to be finalised,” she said.
A listing on the NZX has been speculated on in other media lately.
The Herald reported Kenyon Clarke saying in 2021 that the business had raised $20m from investors.
The Financial Markets Authority Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko had then told Du Val to remove advertising likely to mislead or deceive investors, although Kenyon Clarke said then: “We have not had a single concern.”
Du Val Capital Partners is the funds management division, investing and managing capital for its wholesale investors. The Du Val website explains that part of the business and links directly to the Financial Markets Authority site.
That explains who wholesale and eligible investors are.
That says: “We strongly recommend you work with a professional financial adviser to help you answer these questions and understand the implications for you. We expect advisers will only recommend you become a wholesale investor if you have significant experience in investing and investment markets. You can opt out of being a wholesale investor if you want to.”
BusinessDesk last month reported on a letter from Du Val chairman Owen Culliney, a Hamilton lawyer at iCLAW, to mortgage fund investors saying Du Val was yet to engage with the NZX or Financial Markets Authority ahead of any potential initial public offering (IPO). That article also said investors had found their funds were frozen.
Culliney did not respond to Herald inquiries yesterday or today.
On Clarke’s projections of Du Val building 1000 homes a year, that would make it New Zealand’s second-largest builder.
Data sent to paying clients from consultants BCI New Zealand ranks busiest builders.
That found New Zealand’s busiest house builder in the year to last September was G.J. Gardner with 1492 homes, followed by Mike Greer Homes at 731, Fletcher Residential with 702, Williams Corporation with 605, Signature Homes with 597, Classic Builders with 590, Jennian Homes with 532, Golden Homes with 503 and Wolfbrook Residential with 329.
Two years ago, Du Val sought $17.5 million from qualified wholesale investors here, in Hong Kong and in Singapore to buy two Auckland residential complexes it owns to establish build-to-rent offerings.
According to an information memorandum issued for the offer at that time, the Du Val Build-to-Rent Fund LP was forecasting returns of more than 8 per cent annually.
Du Val said at that time that it has a $750m pipeline of new work and cited CBRE research in 2020 that it was New Zealand’s largest private suburban apartment developer.
Today, Du Val has news about three big Auckland developments under construction: Mt Wellington’s Parry Terraces and Verge Apartments and Māngere’s Mountain Vista Estate.
Verge is at 64 Hillside Rd. Mountain Vista Estate is at 35-37 Walmsley Rd.
Housing projects are under construction on all three sites, according to Du Val’s news link.
The company also developed Manukau’s high-rise Lakewood Plaza at Lakewood Court.