26 Aroha: Landlording with heart

HOW TRADITIONAL BUSINESS VALUES INTERSECT WITH MODERN SENSIBILITIES

Blair and Jules MacKinnon’s first-time residential development project far transcends spreadsheets and brick-and-mortar. At its core, 26 Aroha represents a rejection of the entrenched notion that renters should live a different life than homeowners. If tenants are renting for longer then surely the industry has a vested interest in closing the renter-homeowner divide.

Purpose-built for long-term renters, 26 Aroha sits at the intersection between the principles of sustainability, community and economic circularity as well as traditional linear business strategies that drive property investment as we know it. As a testament to its foresight, 26 Aroha has just been named winner of the Housing-Multi Unit Award in the 2021 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects’ Auckland awards.

At their first-ever keynote address to APIA members, the MacKinnons will showcase details of the project from conception to completion, outline intentional decisions they made about the project that reflected their personal values and share strategies with other investors about how to close the chasm between ideological pursuit and business outcome.

Session topics include:

• 26 Aroha – project overview and how the community is faring now;
• How to drive business outcomes with personal values;
• The meaning and implications of sustainability and community for the MacKinnons as developers, landlords and Aucklanders;
• What are the ways for landlords and property developers to better embrace a more sustainable sensibility going forward.

About the speakers

Blair and Jules MacKinnon are the developers behind 26 Aroha. At their core, the MacKinnons are passionate about our community and driven by the commitment to make renting a more favourable option so that each and every one of us has the same chance to thrive.