A theatre that took eight years to build, a library that opened just days before the awards, and leaders who have shaped the region for decades were among the winners at the 2026 Central Property People Awards in Hamilton on 22 October.
Congratulations to every winner and thank you to everyone who entered.
Colliers Project Leaders Supreme Excellence Award and Chow:Hill Outstanding Leadership Award
Leonard Gardner
Fosters
Leonard Gardner has spent more than two decades turning ambitious ideas into reality across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. As chair of Momentum Waikato, he was one of the earliest champions of the BNZ Theatre, and he has helped shape Union Square, several University of Waikato projects and the New Zealand Construction Alliance. Former Fosters chief executive and now commercial development director, he’s known for bringing people together and letting others take the credit.
Fosters City Shaper Award
Ross Hargood
Waikato Regional Property Trust
As the trust’s first chair, Ross Hargood gave eight years of volunteer leadership to deliver Hamilton’s $80 million, 1300-seat BNZ Theatre. He steered the project through an 18-month pause, rising costs and a change of delivery partner. He also secured a 15-year operating agreement with Live Nation, which keeps the venue affordable for Waikato community groups.
Harkness Henry Judges' Choice Award
Scott Ratuki
Tompkins Wake
Scott Ratuki leads Tompkins Wake’s commercial property practice and chaired the firm’s board from 2022 to 2024. He is a trustee of the Waikato Regional Property Trust and has advised on major Hamilton developments, including Union Square and the Tristram Precinct. The judges praised his authentic, service-focused leadership and his commitment to lifting others, including Pacific businesses in the Waikato.
CKL Property Professional of the Year Award
Robert Dol
Waikato Regional Airport
Robert Dol has more than three decades of property experience and leads property and infrastructure at Waikato Regional Airport. Over the past year, he has overseen the Asmuss development, finished slightly ahead of programme and under budget, and continued work at Precinct North in Titanium Park. A former Property Council Waikato branch president, he is also a Trust Waikato trustee and has coached girls’ football for a decade.
Veros Best Team Award
He Puna Manawa Library and Community Hub team
Tauranga City Council, Willis Bond, Studio Pacific Architects, Dunning Thornton Consultants, Beca, Rider Levett Bucknall, NDY, LT McGuinness
Tauranga City Council, Willis Bond, Studio Pacific Architects, Dunning Thornton Consultants, Beca, Rider Levett Bucknall, NDY and LT McGuinness worked together with Otamataha Trust and mana whenua to deliver Tauranga’s new library and community hub. The mass timber building came in on time and under budget, with a 6 Green Star design rating, despite four months of heavy rain. It opened to the public on 16 October.
Boffa Miskell Sustainability Champion Award
Hamilton Airport Team
Waikato Regional Airport
The Hamilton Airport Team reshaped its plans for Titanium Park to protect the endangered long-tailed bat, or pekapeka. It secured about 15 hectares of permanently protected habitat and is planting more than 75,000 native trees. Sustainability standards, such as solar-ready roofs and rainwater harvesting, are now built into every new development in the precinct.
Beca Women in Property Award
Renee Smith-Apanui
ŌRUA
Renee Smith-Apanui is co-founder and managing director of ŌRUA, a kaupapa Māori architectural practice. She led the Puritia Te Aka Matua reports, the first of their kind to measure Māori participation in architecture and the wider built environment. She also serves as an associate member of the Waikato-Tainui Te Arataura executive board and mentors the next generation of Māori leaders.
Rider Levett Bucknall Young Achiever of the Year
Jake McDell
Fosters
Jake McDell started as a cadet straight from Matamata College and became Fosters’ commercial manager and a shareholder by 30. He now leads a team of 10 quantity surveyors in the Bay of Plenty. He gives back through Toi Ohomai, the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors and surf lifesaving, and helped deliver the Matamata Open Country Community Stadium for his old school.
Hawkins Long Service Award – Waikato
Brian Squair
Brian Squair has been a passionate advocate for Hamilton through architecture, urban design and property. During his time at Chow:Hill Architects, he worked on projects including Union Square, and he has served on the Hamilton Urban Design Panel, Heritage Advisory Panel and Creative Waikato. For Property Council, he has been Waikato branch president and Central regional chair.
Hawkins Long Service Award – Bay of Plenty
Andrew Collins
Harrison Grierson
Andrew Collins has spent more than 30 years in planning, resource management and urban development, including 25 years with Harrison Grierson. He was Property Council Bay of Plenty branch president from 2014 to 2017. His guiding belief has always been to help “create amazing communities”.
