We spoke to Mike Kemeys about the early days of Veros and the growth of the business over the last ten years. Reflecting on milestone projects, Mike highlights the importance of long-term relationships built on trust and pushing boundaries and conventional thought to make projects real.

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Mike Kemeys - Development Director

Q: Tell us about your background in property.

Mike: Property runs in my blood. It’s something I have always had a passion for, from when I started working as a surveyor’s chainman at fourteen. After studying at university, I spent eight years working for a land surveying company in Te Puke and Tauranga. I moved to Sydney in 2010 to complete my Masters of Urban Development and Design and spent four years running and managing an architecture and urban design studio which focused on large-scale apartment developments. In 2014, I moved back to New Zealand for family reasons, and I started at Veros immediately on return. I now work in the role of Development Director, working primarily across land and residential development and property advisory projects in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and beyond.

Q: Why Veros?

Mike: Whilst working with large-scale developments in Australia, I worked alongside development managers and had an insight into their role and responsibilities. I learnt that technical people were not the key drivers behind projects, and to really influence outcomes you needed to be the client or the development manager.

When I was looking for a role in New Zealand, Veros offered an opportunity a conventional professional practice could not provide. With eight years of experience in land development and five years working in the built form, I knew my analytical and design skillsets could be utilised to influence development outcomes others could not. Veros was working on both horizontal and vertical build projects and everything in between– it was the perfect fit.

I’ve also never worked in a large, corporate environment, so the smaller, family-oriented company offering appealed greatly to me. As a small company, I was very fortunate to work beside and be mentored by both Peter and Duarne, two highly experienced development managers. I learnt very quickly that while I had a strong foundation of skill and experience there were several areas, I lacked expertise in which they were able to offer their time and support.

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Team Veros back in 2014

Q: How has Veros changed since you started and what has remained the same?

Mike: The company has grown significantly since 2014, when I first started there were five of us in one office and now, we are now a team of over thirty working from three different offices. Our service lines have expanded and so has what we are able to offer our clients. At the start we were influenced by three or four key clients and now we work with a wide range of clients, from local councils, private landowners, corporate, iwi trust, and charitable organisations.

Despite the change and growth, the same core values have remained at the foundation of the company for the last ten years. Veros is about adding value and being outcomes-focused, it’s about a group of good people leveraging their skills to deliver the best possible results for clients.

Q: What have you learned in the last ten years?

Mike: First and foremost, I’ve learned the learning never stops. If you stop learning, it’s probably due to not challenging yourself or taking the easy option. We work in an industry that is extremely complex and continuously changing and each project brings new challenges with lessons learned. If you want to have longevity in this industry, work with and for good people who are willing and able to take on challenges.

Secondly, ‘if it’s a good idea, it’s usually the right idea’ became our mentality from very early on and if policies didn’t allow for what we wanted to achieve, we found a team who were prepared to challenge themselves and make it happen.

Another key learning is the importance of building strong relationships, respecting everyone’s expertise, and the roles they play, and getting everyone heading in the same direction. Only then can you truly influence the way we live within our city environments.

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James Village Retail Centre & Childcare Centre

Q: Tell us more about building strong relationships, is there a particular project or client that comes to mind?

Mike: One of the first projects I was handed when I started at Veros was with the James family and their property at Sandhurst Drive. We have delivered 170 sections, a childcare centre, and a retail development since 2015. There are also future projects in the pipeline. It suited my skillset, and I was able to add value immediately, and the family recognised this.

From the outset, the family was clear about the outcome and legacy they wanted for the project. Being in a position to add value, we built a relationship based on trust. As a result of this relationship, we were able to change the way residential developments were delivered in Tauranga. We challenged group builders to deliver smaller sections to meet a price point and although the market was changing rapidly through this period, the price point remained consistent over all six stages and five years of delivery.

This was only able to occur because the client trusted us completely and gave us the freedom to push boundaries and conventional thought. The outcomes achieved through this project have leveraged us into other projects, expand into other regions and work alongside a mix of different clients to deliver high-quality housing across New Zealand. Today as a company we draw on lessons learnt through this development, across more than a dozen greenfield developments throughout the country, including the greater Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Palmerston North, Taranaki and Central Otago.

Another very exciting project is Rototuna North, due to its potential and scale. This is a fully master planned community with a town centre, employment zone and a full suite of residential densities. In total, the project could support 10,000 people living in this Hamilton community. This project started six years ago with the delivery of childcare, with our involvement gradually increasing as we delivered outcomes for our client.

Due to the scale of the project, it encompasses multiple projects and work streams and service lines which has challenged our way of thinking and how we approach this type of project. We are proud to be a part of the delivery of an entire walkable suburb, which will be a legacy project for our client, Hamilton, and ourselves.

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Hill Laboratories in Hamilton

Q: Any other highlights from the last decade?

Mike: Another client that we are still working with today is the team at Hill Laboratories. Our first project with them started when they asked us to help them find a site where they could bring the whole Waikato team together under one roof. What resulted was the delivery of a brand-new facility in Frankton that meets both their current and long-term plans as a leader in NZ-based laboratories. As part of maximising value and the highest and best use of their use Hamilton East land, we were able to negotiate site-specific planning and development outcomes not permitted in other areas of Hamilton. We negotiated the sale of the site with the current owners delivering what we determined was the highest and best use and is now currently under construction. This housing development would not have been possible without our involvement in the project and our ability to look three steps ahead.

We are currently negotiating and supporting Hill Laboratories in the delivery of a new turnkey, state-of-the-art, tenancy in Christchurch.

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Rototuna North

Q: What’s next for Veros?

Mike: It’s exciting to have been part of this business from humble beginnings, with a core group of good people delivering great work across the country. On reflection, at the start did we envision this is what Veros would become, in part yes and in part no! This complex industry is constantly throwing up different challenges and being able to flex and adapt is important for our business and growth within the industry. Likewise, we need to stay humble and relevant and keep putting people first.

While there have been some challenges, I wouldn’t change much, and feel very grateful and fortunate to be in a position where I love the work I am doing. What this means for the future and where Veros will be in another ten years is highly complex, however, in order to grow, we must back our team and their combined ability to influence outcomes in communities across New Zealand.

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