The development team behind Cromwell’s Wooing Tree Estate is a finalist for the Best Team Award at the South Island Property People Awards in Christchurch on 15 October. Checketts McKay Law is proud to be part of that team.
If you have driven into Cromwell in the last few years, you have watched Wooing Tree Estate grow out of a vineyard. The development team that delivered it is now a finalist for the Best Team Award at the 2026 South Island Property People Awards. Checketts McKay Law is one of the firms in that team.
Property Council New Zealand runs the awards. Winners will be announced on Thursday 15 October at One NZ Stadium, Te Kaha, in Christchurch. The Best Team category recognises excellence in process, collaboration, adaptability and leadership. It is open to teams drawn from several organisations, which is how Wooing Tree was built.
From vineyard to neighbourhood
Wooing Tree Estate is one of the most significant developments in Central Otago in recent years. The Wooing Tree Estate Development Partnership commenced work on the development in 2019, with the final lots having been delivered to the market this year.
The award-winning Wooing Tree wine business has carried on through it all, with an impressive new cellar door and kitchen at the heart of the development. Around it sit an early childhood centre, a new commercial development, a network of greenways and the Wooing Tree Walkway underpass to the Big Fruit Reserve.
The team behind it
Veros led the project as development managers, with the wider team including Benchmark Construction, Baxter Design on landscape design, Patersons on engineering and surveying, Tattico on planning and Checketts McKay Law as the development lawyers. Most of these firms are based in the South Island, and several are right here in Central Otago.
The work you never see
Most people who buy a section in a large subdivision never see the thousands of hours that go in behind the scenes. Work on these types of projects requires extensive collaboration between a wide team of professionals.
On a staged development the size of Wooing Tree, the legal work starts a long time before the first digger arrives and continues until after the final sections are sold to buyers.
Why it matters here
Large developments in Central Otago are increasingly delivered by teams that combine national experience with local knowledge. Wooing Tree is a good example of a national development manager working alongside experienced South Island firms on a long project.
Fraser Sinclair, the Checketts McKay Law Director and lead lawyer on the project, says: “Wooing Tree has been a long project with a lot of moving parts. It’s been a privilege to work alongside Veros and the rest of the team, and to see a vineyard become a neighbourhood people are proud to live in.”
Our Cromwell office in The Mall is a short walk from the estate through the Wooing Tree Walkway. We will be cheering the team on from there on 15 October, along with all the other finalists.
By Emma O’Reilly, People and Culture Manager, Checketts McKay Law - October 2026
Fraser Sinclair is a Director in our Property Development and Subdivisions team, based in Cromwell. You can read more about Fraser and our property development and subdivision services on our website.