WHO WE ARE
Kia ora. We’re Dan and Elijah. We have joined forces to create Taua Developments.
‘Taua’ means to fight, to take arms. Our mission is to fight the housing crisis in Aotearoa, especially for Maori/Pacifica.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
We both come from low socio-economic backgrounds. We both played sport professionally as young men. This exposed us to environments that gave us a vision of a better life for ourselves. We were fortunate to have opportunities to bridge the inequality gap we were born into. Sport, hard work and vision empowered us to live with the mindset of possibility. We have both built a portfolio of houses and created wealth opportunities for ourselves and our whanau.
We want to support other Maori and Pacifica families go from surviving to thriving by establishing a firm foundation – a place to call home.
ROOTS: I grew up in West Auckland. We moved to the North Shore in my teen years where I formed tight friendships and played footie. Dad would make me walk, run or ride my bike (with no gears) to school each day. It was an 18km round trip – a bit of a mission, but it definitely toughened me up!
SPORT: I was lucky enough to represent New Zealand in the Under 19s at a world championship in Dubai. I then got signed by North Harbour Mitre10 in 2006 and played there for a couple of seasons before being let go. After a few seasons off I was signed to the Bay Of Plenty Steamers for the 2013 season.
BUILDING: My Dad is a builder so I grew up with the trade, working with him every school holiday to earn money for our family. We did some pretty big jobs and I can say that I learnt a lot from the old boy. I began my own career working on new build residential sites, then moved into re-locatables and the odd small subdivision. Now I own a small rental portfolio and focus my time on TAUA builds and developments.
PAPAKAINGA: There is no better way of connecting to your whanau than by living on your ancestral whenua. I believe in Maori building for Maori and that is one of the reasons that Taua has dedicated itself to enhancing papakainga planning, designing and building.
Fighting the housing crisis in New Zealand is personal for me because: Maori and Pasifika have been hit the worst when it comes to housing stats. My Mom is a Maori/Pasifika woman I have seen the direct impact on our whanau of not having secure, affordable housing.
I'm passionate about our Taua Developments mission because: I believe we can address known inequality factors and bridge these gaps through inclusionary design and neuro architecture. We want to empower communities to be resilient, fair and most importantly inclusive. Dan Devereaux Tauranga
Elijah Nicholas
ROOTS: I was born and raised in Te Puke. Tapuika and Waitaha are my iwi, but I have strong whakapapa links all over the Bay of Plenty region and other regions across New Zealand.
SPORT: Rugby has been a major part of my life. I had the opportunity to travel and play across many teams with a bunch of different players. I was fortunate to play representative rugby for the Bay of Plenty and also Chief’s rugby before focusing on my building/development ventures.
BUILDING: I started out in the building industry as a hammer hand in my late teens and worked my way up from there, working in the rugby off seasons. My experience is with relocatable homes, renovations, subdivision and new builds. I now do my own building projects and developments and have set up a successful building and accommodation business here in Te Puke.
PAPAKAINGA: I have overseen a papakainga development on our Maori whanau owned land. My wife and I live there and oversee the papakainga properties. Developing this papakainga has helped to add value to our land, has generated income, and most of all provided homes for whanau, which gives me a sense of pride and fulfilment.
Fighting the housing crisis in New Zealand is personal for me because: it is my own Maori people who are suffering the most.
I'm passionate about our Taua Developments mission because: we have some very effective short and long term solutions and strategies that I believe can really make a difference in New Zealand.