Star Block in Freemans Park

Star Block in Freemans Park

What is now known as the Freemans Park Body Corporate was the core of an innovative urban development led by Auckland City following a Freemans Bay ‘slum clearance’ programme that took place in the 1950s.

Because of the planning and residential developments that took place in the 1960 & 70s Freemans Bay has been described by academics as ‘New Zealand’s urban planning crucible’.

Freemans Park consists of apartment blocks, maisonettes and courtyard houses built for the Auckland City Council between 1960 and 1967.

In the late 1990’s Freemans Park (Philip Block) was partially privatised and in 2003 Housing NZ purchased Auckland City’s remaining share holding in the Freemans Park body corporate. Today the the ownership is a mix of private (resident and non-resident) and institutional owners including Housing New Zealand, Auckland Housing Association (AHA) and the Community of Refuge Trust (CORT).

For many people Freemans Park is an important heritage site. Many of the policies adopted by the Owners’ Committee have been adopted to preserve its heritage character.

Browse More Historical Photos

  1. – Star Blocks
  2. – Row Houses
  3. – Mainsonette Blocks
  4. – Freemans Bay

Past Photographs of Freemans Park in Freemans Bay

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Courtesy of Auckland City Archives

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Courtesy of Auckland City Archives
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Central Auckland, including Freemans Bay, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, and Western Park, 31 Aug 1959
Courtesy of National Library of New Zealand