Made market in Hamilton East is set to open next week. Image / Stark Property
Made market in Hamilton East is set to open next week. Image / Stark Property
Hamilton East residents are about to get a new one-stop shop for local produce and products when Made, a market, eatery and retail precinct, opens next weekend.
Made, located in the former Waikato Regional Council building on Grey St, is the latest development by Stark Property and has been in the works since 2018.
On top of local businesses including Duck Island Ice Cream, Mama’s Donuts, Volare Bread and Grey Roasting Co, the precinct has another star of the show: the Waikato River.
Stark Property operations manager Ali Lennan said after a five-year delay due to Covid-19, the company was excited to finally see Made come to life.
“To build a development like this, that reaches out to the Waikato River [and] that everyone will have access to, is incredible [for us].”
She said the river focus of the development had been important to Stark Property founders Matt and Jaimee Stark who also made the river a key feature in a couple of other developments in “Victoria Central”.
“Hamilton deserves to look into the river,” Lennan said.
“We have nice places in town that look out to the river but they’re more high-end. It’s nice to have an approachable feeling with Made.”
Made holds around 40 tenants with offerings from fashion and homeware, to wellness, to food and drink. Current precinct residents also include Duck Island’s new icecream factory and head office.
Stark Property operations manager Ali Lennan at The Larder. Photo / Malisha Kumar
The precinct is divided into four sections: Mezzanine which includes fashion and lifestyle-type stores, Mess Hall which includes eateries and bars, The Sheds which includes creative studios and Made Market, which includes produce and food stalls.
Within the Made market, people can also find The Larder: an artisan store that has locally sourced produce and handmade goods on its shelves. Interested merchants can still rent shelf space, Lennan said.
Another special feature of the precinct is the building itself: It was originally known as the Arawa building and home to the Waikato River Board in 1907.
The building was purchased by the Waikato Regional Council in 1993 and rebranded as the Environment Waikato building when it opened in 1995.
In 2011, concerns around exterior cladding and leakages were raised and modifications were made in response. Stark Property purchased the building in 2018.
Lennan said the Starks had a strong focus on repurposing old buildings instead of busting them down and starting fresh.
“Made is set to reinvigorate the charming, village-like atmosphere that Hamilton East once embodied ... Ultimately, Hamilton East is a bit of a village and to be able to create and bring back some of that village energy is what we’re looking forward to the most.”
Made will officially open for business on November 4, from 10am. The precinct will then be open six days a week.
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.
