From 'acceptable' to innovative: Penk shakes up the building sector

Building Minister Chris Penk is pushing initiatives to bring the cost of building down. (Image: NZME)

Tue, 08 Oct 2024

Johnathan Chen and Ashton Chan reckon they can bring down the cost of building products in New Zealand by an average 25%.Chen is a property developer and professional engineer, and Chan’s family business is the large Hong Kong-based Hang Yue construction group.Through his own projects and work for developer Remarkables Park Ltd, part-owned by Queenstown’s wealthy Porter family, Chen has seen firsthand what happens when monopoly suppliers and material shortages collide.The two men met playing basketball as youngsters and didn’t...

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