Stronger together to build a resilient future
15 July 2025
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- Development
- Urban regeneration
The recent establishment of two new units in Auckland Council: the Auckland Urban Development Office (AUDO) and Property Department, has seen the realignment and bringing together of expertise from the former Council-controlled Organisation (CCO) Eke Panuku Development Auckland and key teams from other parts of Auckland Council.
One of the key outcomes of the CCO reform was the retention of the knowledgeable and experienced staff at Eke Panuku Development Auckland. As such, the majority of the 225 employees at Eke Panuku have moved into roles within the new units to ensure minimum disruption to work underway in both urban regeneration and property management. Most of the former executive leadership team were appointed to new senior roles within the units.
These new units, located within Auckland Council’s Resilience and Infrastructure Directorate, have been structured to ensure the council is best set up to deliver effectively for Tāmaki Makaurau through greater strategic alignment, democratic accountability and improved service delivery for Aucklanders.
Auckland Urban Development Office
The new AUDO has been established to deliver Auckland Council’s ongoing urban regeneration programme and be the ‘front door’ for partnerships between the government, private developers, iwi and the council to deliver integrated urban development.
With a focus on leveraging commercial opportunities to achieve better outcomes for Auckland, the establishment of AUDO enhances the council’s ability to achieve smart and sustainable development in strategically prioritised growth areas around the region.
The AUDO has 111 urban regeneration experts, including priority location directors, project, planning and consents, Māori outcomes, urban designers, development, placemaking and community engagement teams who already have well-established relationships with neighbourhood stakeholders across the motu.
There, they are joined by 43 kaimahi from the council’s infrastructure investment and phasing, and city centre programmes teams. The infrastructure investment and phasing team plays an important role in working directly with developers involved in large-scale greenfield developments, such as in Drury. The city centre programmes team will continue their work to bring the City Centre Masterplan to life as well as supporting properties, businesses, residents and visitors through major change and the impacts of construction.
The new General Manager for the AUDO, Patrick Dougherty, will begin in his new role on 11 August 2025. Eke Panuku Chief Executive David Rankin has been working as the CCO Reform Transition Director and will be leaving the Council Group at the end of July for ‘semi-retirement’.
Property Department
Auckland Council is one of the largest property owners in New Zealand, with its portfolio including service and non-service properties. Service properties play a direct role in providing a council service, for example through Watercare, Auckland Transport or the council’s libraries and community centres. The non-service portfolio is diverse, located across the region and includes commercial, retail and residential properties, but also landfills, quarries, heritage buildings and council owned marinas.
The property department will provide strategic leadership, oversight and advice to ensure the council group is optimising its portfolio of property assets and related services to best serve Aucklanders now and into the future. This department will also have direct management responsibility for the non-service and community lease portfolios and provide a range of technical property services and advice including undertaking property transactions.
This team brings together 87 property experts from Eke Panuku and 46 from Auckland Council led by new General Manager Ian Wheeler, former Eke Panuku Chief Operating Officer. The former Eke Panuku team includes property managers, assets and facilities teams, marina operations, lease specialists and optimisation, acquisition and disposals teams
This team has been boosted with the addition of their Land and Property Advisory Team colleagues from Auckland Council, who will provide advice to the council group, including elected members, on open-space provision assessment, rationalisation and disposal assessments, and producing the statutory land and property agreements and may provide recommendations to landowners on the use of council land for temporary or permanent public or private works.
The Property Department’s main goal is to get the best value from the council’s property assets and make sure experienced staff are making decisions that align with the council's big-picture strategy.
Corporate Support
Most of the Eke Panuku corporate support employees have also transitioned into Auckland Council as a result of the CCO reform and will continue to support the Auckland Urban Development Office and Property Department through roles in Group Shared Services, People Services, Marketing and Communications, and Governance.
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