Stark Property – The Developers Revitalising our CBD

Chapter One – Panama & their People

Stark Property came to be when Matt Stark and his wife Jaimee recognised the need for well-designed workspaces in the CBD. Eleven years later, the commercial and residential property developers have transformed Hamilton, all fuelled by a passion to revitalise our CBD. This passion has transformed the way Hamiltonians work and live, more specifically in the form of their growing entity, Panama.

I met with Tegan Ellis, the Community and Events Coordinator for Panama Square, the largest of Stark’s four Panama flexible work spaces, who shared what makes Panama so successful.

Panama Square is located in Garden Place, the heart of Hamilton’s CBD. The flexible workspace occupies the former MLC Insurance building, after years of the space sitting vacant.

The Square is a co-working space with a range of meeting rooms and event spaces that can be rented. The building is filled with a range of like-minded professionals that have access to all of the perks of a shared space, including thoughtfully designed common spaces, created with community in mind.

Tegan is the ‘friendly face of the Panama coworking brand’ and I am sure anyone could vouch that she is perfect for the job. Her strong relational skills and ability to foster genuine relationships are instrumental in the success of the space.

Direct relationships between Panama and its tenants are vital and Tegan enjoys the ability to ‘have genuine conversations with every member of the coworking space.

‘I love being able to engage with our tenants and having the opportunity to lift someone’s day.’

The opportunity for collaboration is one of the many benefits of the space as tenants have the opportunity to spark conversation with other Panama residents in their hospitality-inspired breakout spaces. 

The values of Panama and Stark Property as a whole, come straight from the Director, Matt Stark, who Tegan describes as ‘such a relational guy who doesn’t take life too seriously.’

Stark Property works from Panama Square and the tight-knit team say that co-working ‘just works for them.’

The team’s natural inclination towards strong professional relationships is what makes this space so successful and there is a real sense of community that is continuing to grow with the property developers.

Stark Property’s ethos of ‘thoughtfully designed spaces’ that set their tenants up for greatness, is reflected in the success of their beautiful spaces.

The 1950s glory of the building has been channelled to foster spaces that are interesting and welcoming. Cream floor mosaics, pink bathroom wall tiles, and a range of textures and geometrics are pulled together to celebrate the building’s original design features. 

Tegan speaks of how refreshing it is ‘to see how people experience the space for the first time’ and reflects on how working in such an ‘aesthetically pleasing place’ lifts her mood in ways she may not even notice.

‘I am reminded of how beautiful the spaces are when I bring people in for tours and they start to touch the walls and feel the different textures. That is always special.‘

The property developers have been transforming the CBD and it is exciting to see the city ‘turning towards the river’, a nod towards what makes our city so special.

Chapter Two – Life at Sagely

Louise McClean is the director of Sagely, a boutique recruitment agency that works with businesses to bring ‘authentic and honest, international consulting experience’ to the Waikato.

Sagely is nestled inside Panama Square and, over the years it has become a permanent fixture within Panama.

When Louise first brought Sagely, formerly Emergent Waikato, to Hamilton in 2017 she was looking for a space that provided her small business with commercial flexibility.

At the time, Panama House was a perfect fit for her start-up. As Sagely began to take off, it took the opportunity to move into the larger Panama Square, which provided the recruitment agency with the foot traffic of Hamilton’s growing CBD. 

The ‘look and feel’ of Panama was integral in Louise’s decision to base her business there; the visually interesting, yet functional space at Panama is a huge part of the elevated experience that Sagely’s clients receive. 

Panama is dedicated to cultivating a great office culture that it fulfils every day through a passion for strong interpersonal relationships in spaces that make people feel good. 

‘Although we are a small business in an office, the shared spaces and community Panama provides, allow us to feel a part of something bigger.’

The essence of co-working is connection, flexibility, and collaboration. Louise agrees that a co-working space like Panama is a fantastic place to inject a sense of belonging and connection into the lives of young professionals, and speaks fondly of the relationships she has built since bringing her business to Panama. 

Panama Square is a building of big thinkers who remain genuine and people-focused at their core.

Louise says that her experience in the shared common areas have provided her with important networking and collaboration opportunities. Most recently, her business rebrand with resident design consultancy, Designwell. This experience felt like a ‘very fitting extension’ of her relationship with the Designwell team, due to the natural alignment and mutual understanding of their personal ethos.

‘I like going to work. I like driving into the city every day. I like being a part of this space‘.

Stark Property’s design-centred approach to the revitalisation of the CBD has transformed the way in which Hamilton professionals work. Stark Property has a ‘clear passion for Hamilton’ and to Louise, ‘they are more than just commercial property developers. It feels like they really want to make a difference.’