McKenna: from humble beginnings to high-level achievements

By ANNE GIBSON

Maserati-driving millionaire property developer Nigel McKenna, the son of an Irish builder, grew up in a London terraced house.

The family moved to the Irish countryside in Melview when he was 10. There, his father ran a small building firm employing about six tradespeople.

Mr McKenna was just 20 when his father died. He was buried at Melview - a place Mr McKenna holds so dear he named his development firm after it.

The apprentice entrepreneur decided to follow in dad's footsteps and studied construction economics in Dublin, before starting work as a quantity surveyor.

Lured by a string of postcards, presents and letters from an Irish relative in Wellington, Mr McKenna arrived in New Zealand in March 1987, amid the spectre of company collapses.

He built a house for himself and his wife at Whitby, then moved on to building townhouses in Crofton Downs.

A year later, Mr McKenna was appointed Wellington projects manager for construction company Argus, but he soon set up his own project management business, Kenman Consultants, with David Mann.

A new TAB in Petone, redeveloping the Old City Hotel in Wellington, Dockside and Shed 5 were just some of their projects in the capital, but Mr McKenna soon found himself commuting weekly to Auckland.

He moved north permanently to work for six years as project manager on Andrew Krukziener's adventurous Metropolis venture.

The Viaduct Basin caught his eye and one of Mr McKenna's first jobs there was moving the Loaded Hog to a corner site, enabling him to begin work on The Quays and the Sebel, both hotel/apartment blocks.

Other McKenna projects are Scotia Tower, a 14-storey apartment building overlooking Myers Park, 76 houses at Lucas Point in Albany and the Unilodge, a 20-level apartment building at Auckland University.

But Beaumont Quarter is by far his largest job. Deposits have been paid on 66 of the 72 units in stage one, with one-bedroom apartments starting at $139,000.

The second stage will include some larger units, which might sell for $500,000.

Next up for Mr McKenna is a 170-room hotel on the corner of Featherston and Bunny Sts in Wellington.