Tara Iti owner to invest over $50m on two new public courses

By Richard Humphreys

Mon 18 Mar, 2019

American billionaire Ric Kayne plans to invest over $50m to develop two new public courses close to his Tara Iti layout north of Auckland, New Zealand.

Kayne, the majority owner of private equity firm Kayne Anderson Capital Advisers, worked with golf course architect Tom Doak and development planner John Darby on the private Tara Iti course.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Kayne said he now plans to add two new public courses, designed by Coore & Crenshaw and Doak, on part of a 764-hectare block of land adjacent to and south of Tara Iti. Kayne wants state consent to lease the land for more than a century from the Ngāti Manuhiri iwi.

Kayne told the Herald that he proposes that 200 hectares goes to Auckland Council to extend existing reserve areas, having already gifted 200 hectares of land at Tara Iti as a reserve. He also plans to create visitor accommodation, a clubhouse, 60 luxury home sites, a public camping ground and a retail centre along with surfing shops.

“The wider vision is now for the adjacent 700-hectare Mangawhai South Forest,” Kayne told the Herald. “Ngāti Manuhiri is partnering with Kayne and Darby Partners on a similar development. The goal is to create a significant recreational, economic and environmental asset for Auckland and New Zealand.”

Mook Hohneck, chairman of the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, told the Herald: “We’re discussing with Kayne to lease part of the land which the settlement trust owns, to fulfil the tribal aspirations, both commercial and cultural. We want to realise the potential for the land. Because of our size and commercial capability, we see it as advantageous to have secure relationships with strategic partners, built on trust, honesty and goodwill.

“This provides the platform for the trust to proceed with their commitment to achieve the tribal long-term aspirations. To date, we have always had a good relationship with both Ric Kayne and John Darby.”

Kayne says the area would be turned into a “world golfing destination”, with Tara Iti and the two new courses all playing along a beach facing Little Barrier Island and the Hen and Chicken Islands.

“We intend to create a treasure unlike any other place in the world,” said Kayne. “This is the best land in the world for golf courses. We have the land to do this and it’s a deep passion. I want to do something for New Zealand, Auckland, Mangawhai and Auckland golfers.”

Kayne needs to get Overseas Investment Office consent to lease the land and Auckland Council consent to develop the courses and create the house lots before work can begin.