Mick Moffatt’s QUBE now has nine full-time quantity surveyors (QSs) and four part-timers.
"We’ve employed a new QS just about every year."
Two full-timers are in the Tauranga office Moffatt’s business partner Nick Howell set up a year ago.
"We were always looking for a North Island base and Nick had a desire to be in a warmer climate and by the beach so he proposed the idea of Tauranga."
Though it’s been a slow start, "there’s certainly some green shoots now and hopefully that moves into a better 2026".
Meanwhile, QUBE’s also just onboarded its first GM, Terry Fahey, a QS from Dunedin.
Fahey says though locals might think the construction scene’s "less stressed", it’s still "very buoyant" in the Southland/Otago context.
Moffatt says over the years people’s appetites for spending more on Queenstown houses has increased.
"A good starting point is probably $5million, and then between that and $15m is kind of normal.
"Twenty-five years ago, $1000 a square metre was a nice budget, fast-forward and people are spending up to $2000 a square metre for high-spec homes."
Though construction cost increases have eased, "people generally see value in there being no better time to build than today".
"You won’t be more cost-effective in six months."
Some of QUBE’s commercial projects have included Lake Hayes’ Ayrburn hospo precinct — for which Cook Brothers Construction won awards at last week’s New Zealand Commercial Awards — and Arthurs Point’s Brew Hall, Glenorchy’s The Headwaters Eco Lodge, Arrowtown’s The Fork & Tap and Frankton’s Driftaway campground.
