By Craig West, CEO, Tainui Group Holdings  

If it’s been a while since you drove down the wonderful Waikato Expressway, you might do a double take while passing the Ruakura interchange on Hamilton’s eastern flank.

From previously green fields now rise the container stacks for the Ruakura Inland Port, alongside large-scale new distribution centres for global organisations such as Maersk, Kmart, Sime Darby and Air Liquide, and local heroes like Big Chill, Refrigafreighters, ContainerCo and Waitomo Group. This young but flourishing logistics ecosystem is planned to eventually grow to 610 hectares – to be one of Australasia’s largest. 

Its strong start, with around 50 hectares already developed, is a testament to the vision of Waikato-Tainui, combined with 20 years of hard work by the team at Tainui Group Holdings.

Since recently joining Tainui Group Holdings after more than two decades in senior roles in the infrastructure sector, I have been impressed by the strength of the infrastructure backbone at Ruakura Superhub – not just the individual elements, but how they operate as a system to increase the productivity of the supply chain.

Multiple elements of quality infrastructure interact at the Superhub to form a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. These elements include:

• the building of a fully integrated interchange connecting to and from the Waikato Expressway offering superior arterial connections north and south, and soon to be extended by a further 16 kilometres south from Cambridge to Piarere
• the completion of earthworks and Three Waters infrastructure to enable the 120-hectare Stage 1 to be ready for vertical construction
• the completion of Stages 1 and 2a of the Ruakura Inland Port, totalling the first 12 hectares of what will eventually be a 30-hectare inland port. With twin rail sidings, the inland port offers broadly equidistant 24/7 rail connections to the seaports of Tauranga and Auckland via KiwiRail’s main trunk lines. Onsite services include ContainerCo’s three-hectare facility for cleaning, repairing and storing empty containers
• the construction of a network of internal roads, including the four-laning of Ruakura Road to form a central spine road that is fed by a network of sub roads and lanes
• the development of Ruakura Energy – a dedicated Tainui Group Holdings–owned local electricity network to serve large-scale logistics and industrial tenants at the Superhub 
• green infrastructure – more than 25 hectares of green spaces and swales. This includes the almost 12-hectare Te Wairepo wetland for the treatment of run-off. It also includes two kilometres of boardwalks set among one million new native plants.

Final pieces of the infrastructure network are in the pipeline. Design and consenting work is already underway on a new Eastern Traffic Corridor – a circa $300-million arterial roading development to unlock the Eastern boundary of Hamilton, which has been Aotearoa New Zealand’s fastest‑growing city for two years running. 

Accelerating trade

Aotearoa is one of the most trade-dependent nations in the world, and the Superhub is already delivering on its promise to more efficiently expedite the movement of imports, exports, and domestically produced and sold goods. 

In February 2020, Port of Tauranga came on board as a joint venture (JV) partner in the inland port component, bringing experience and expertise in port operation and customer relationships. Fast forward to FY26, around 30,000 20-foot equivalent units are forecast to move through the port. 

Many of our exports originate from the country’s high‑performing primary sector, and the Superhub enables them to get to international markets faster, fresher and safer.  

It’s not all just one way travel, though. Equally important are the imports – the overseas manufactured goods that help households manage the high cost of living, and the tools, plant and equipment we import to keep our businesses running. One example is Kmart, which recently re-designated its 40,000-square-metre facility at Ruakura as their national distribution centre.

It’s where these two supply chains meet that the magic happens. Traditionally, with imports coming in primarily through Port of Auckland and exports departing through Port of Tauranga, vast numbers of empty container relocations have been involved to get them where they are needed. At Ruakura Superhub, where importers and exporters are co-located, they can simply interchange containers in the precinct, rather than travelling to and from seaports.

Powered by partnership

The Tainui Group Holdings team could not have moved the project from vision to action without committed partners. The team has been able to draw on many years of experience, partnering across a broad range of investments to bring in external capital, skills and networks to accelerate growth. For the Superhub, partners included catalytic investments from Crown Infrastructure Partners and Hamilton City Council to augment the $200-million-plus invested by Tainui Group Holdings.

In April 2025, with the backbone of infrastructure in and on the ground, and ready to scale, Tainui Group Holdings was motivated to form a new JV with global real estate investor Brookfield Asset Management (Brookfield). The partners will work together to develop the remaining 70 hectares of Stage 1 of the Superhub over the next 7–10 years, with a forecast completion value of more than $1 billion.

Under the terms of the JV, all whenua (land) will remain in Waikato-Tainui ownership across the full 610-hectare Superhub precinct, and Tainui Group Holdings will provide investment, property management and development services to the JV.

Speaking at the time, the Chair of Te Arataura, the executive committee of Waikato Tainui, Tukoroirangi Morgan said: 

‘The new JV reflects the strength of the Māori economy and signals that the iwi is open for global business. As an iwi, our horizon is intergenerational; we are about building a legacy for future generations. Brookfield, which we selected for its aligned goals, values and fit, understands that. Together we will create real opportunities for economic growth that will reverberate for our people, Brookfield’s investors, and our city, region and country.’

Sustainable by design

As an iwi-owned business, Tainui Group Holdings has a view that growth should not come at the expense of te taiao – the environment. As arguably the most sustainable logistics hub in New Zealand, the Superhub offers cargo owners a choice of transport mode. Long-term, the success of the precinct is predicated on moving cargoes from road to rail. 

And we all know that rail moves are better for the environment and help reduce congestion on roads.

Respected economic analyst Castalia forecasted that Waikato container movements will grow to 500,000 20‑foot equivalent units over the next 30 years. Given such expected volumes, and the savings and the benefits of intermodal transportation, Castalia found that the Superhub will generate annual savings to the region’s cargo owners rising to $60 million per annum. This will also lead to avoided greenhouse gas emissions of approximately one million tonnes over the next 30 years, and generate social benefits from avoided road accidents rising to $25 million per annum.

The Superhub utilises solar energy and an extensive network of planted stormwater swales, and incorporates a string of 4, 5 and 6 Green Star–rated buildings. Alternative energy solutions available in the precinct include rapid electric vehicle charging, with public amenity that includes more than two kilometres of boardwalks in the inspiring Wairepo Kettleholes Conservation Area wetlands.

Opportunities to connect and partner with local iwi abound, and several tenants have utilised these networks to build their teams after relocating to the Superhub. Iwi-owned businesses have also been active in subcontracting during the construction phase.

In summary, quality infrastructure is demonstrably accelerating growth for Aotearoa. This is not just through our own expanding development footprint, but by creating opportunities for co-located businesses in the precinct to accelerate their own growth.

For hundreds of years, this whenua was a food bowl for iwi, criss-crossed by tracks and in relatively recent times was returned to Waikato-Tainui under the terms of the 1995 Raupatu Settlement with the Crown. Today, the Superhub is a key crossroad in New Zealand’s major supply chain corridor, servicing around 45 per cent of New Zealand’s population, 42 per cent of the nation’s freight and 55 per cent of the country’s GDP.  

Tainui Group Holdings is here for the long haul and is excited to work with its tenants, partners, and community to spearhead regional and national growth, as well as drive economic and social benefits for the more than 95,000 members of Waikato-Tainui for generations to come.

Hamilton City Council’s view

By Sonia Baker, Programme Manager Greenfield Growth, Hamilton City Council

Hamilton City Council is proud to be partnering with Tainui Group Holdings to help unlock the full potential of the Ruakura Superhub and Inland Port, an exciting project that is unlocking economic growth for Hamilton.

Ruakura Inland Port and Logistics Hub together form the Ruakura Superhub and is New Zealand’s largest integrated development, and a project of national significance. The inland port serves as a vital freight connector between the Ports of Auckland and Tauranga, enabling more efficient movement of goods across the upper North Island.

Once fully up and running, the Inland Port and Logistics Hub are expected to boost productivity in the Waikato by around $1 billion each year, and deliver a national economic benefit of about $5.4 billion.

Ruakura is recognised as a priority development area within the Future Proof Strategy, which was updated in 2024 to support staged, coordinated growth across the subregion. The strategy outlines seven transformational moves, including iwi aspirations, a revitalised transport system, thriving communities, and water-sensitive development, all of which are reflected in the planning and delivery of Ruakura.