Leigh Hopper has been busy working on the latest stage of Whitianga Waterways, a multi-purpose subdivision at the Coromandel town.
Last November Hopper Developments opened New Zealand’s first man-made residential island at the site, including a grand canal, and has since lodged consent for a retail component, including a fast food drive-through outlet.
Earlier in the year the developer applied to add 72 new sections to the development.
More than 500 sections out of more than 1500 have already been created across the entire project and when it is finished, it will have about 8km of canals.
Construction of the waterways started about 17 years ago and would take a further 20 years to complete.
Hopper was founded by brothers Ian and Tony Hopper who kicked off the Pauanui and Whitianga waterways canal housing schemes in the 1950s and 1960s.
Leigh Hopper came in as the second generation to run the company, which he still majority owns and expanded from civil construction into a significant number of residential subdivisions on Auckland’s North Shore, the Hibiscus Coast, and in the Coromandel Peninsula.
Aside from Whitianga Waterways, Hopper is also building Pauanui Waterways and Marsden Cove.
In the midst of all that, Mr Hopper has shifted from the Hibiscus Coast to a waterfront home in Whitianga to get a “better worklife balance.” He has no plans to go public with the company, which now has three members of the third generation working in the executive team.
His daughter Shana Hopper-McCully is marketing manager, son Gray Hopper is in charge of their various property projects, and nephew Andy Grey is an accountant helping keep an eye on the finances. “They’re waiting for the ‘old fella’ to get out of the way probably,” Leigh Hopper he said last year.
The long-term strategy is a balanced one – civil construction for themselves and others, more residential property development at their three sites along with accommodation and retail, and more retirement villages which the company runs itself.
While demographics point to an ageing population and burgeoning need for more retirement accommodation, Mr Hopper says there are an awful lot of retirement villages on the drawing boards and it’s a competitive market.