Unlike his shipping industry brother Bill, Jim Speedy has devoted most of his working life to property investment.
However, he has recently branched out into technology, with an app designed to make car parking much more user-friendly.
Together with his wife Vimu, Speedy manages various investments under the banner of Covington Group Holdings from a base in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour. Established in 1994, Covington claims to have a proven track record in investment and business management and, according to its website, “continues to work hard at adding value to its existing businesses and investigating new investment opportunities.”
The couple’s largest single asset is a $14 million commercial office block and associated land in Auckland’s Eden Terrace. But their highest-profile investment is the Gulf Harbour Marina, on the Whangaparaoa peninsula, which consists of more than 1000 berths, retail and industrial and commercial parking sites with a collective value of almost $11m.
Speedy's company sought to pick up the leases on the so-called Hammerhead site adjacent to the marina as it was entitled to do under the development licence. Court action followed but the Auckland Council has suggested it take back control of the 3ha Hammerhead site - described by one local body representative as "the most valuable land in all of the Hibiscus Coast" to enable public access by swapping the marina land it owns. Speedy said he's agreeable to the Hammerhead site being kept open for the public and was "working with council to that end."
Another long-term investment by Speedy is the Lake Tekapo Motels and Holiday Park and the Lakefront Lodge and Backpackers. Set on a picturesque 24ha site with views across the lake to the surrounding mountains, the property has a rateable value of more than $8m and is in the process of being subdivided to make way for up to 180 houses.
Over the years, Covington has skirted controversy as the joint venture financier under a novated contract to the construction company in Takapuna’s 23-story Spencer on Byron, which became one of the country’s biggest leaky buildings. Apartment owners won $20.05m for the tower leaks including $10m from Auckland Council, $6m from the insurers for the builder, Brookfield Multiplex Construction, $4m from the cladding installer, and $50,000 from the architect's insurers.
Covington was also the financier in 1999 of the 223-apartment Railway Campus apartment complex behind the old Auckland Railway Station, which was built by Goodall AB. It had a deal with the University of Auckland for student accommodation which was managed by the university. The development closed in 2007 for extensive repairs, including leaks.
One of Speedy’s more successful ventures was managing the huge Middlemore Hospital car park, which includes more than 2000 spaces. He held the concession for the car park from 2002 until 2013, and it is understood that tens of millions of dollars changed hands when the deed was reassigned to ACC. It was reported in 2017 that the car park was generating $4m a year for the corporation.
It was his frustration with the technology available to run the car park that prompted Speedy to set up a new company called Inugo in 2016. The start-up uses technology installed in car park barrier arms to help users locate nearby parks and then pay and raise the barrier from a smartphone. “Modern cities face real challenges of congestion, limited space and environmental impacts. With Inugo, we want to solve these issues head on by rethinking the way the world sees parking,” he says on the company’s website.
The couple’s Saint Kentigern College-educated sons, Mark and Jonathan, have recently dipped their toes into the property sector with a joint ownership in some lifestyle blocks at Waikanae North near Wellington. According to LinkedIn, Mark has been involved in business development at Covington since 2014 and has been a project manager at Gulf Harbour.
However, their parents maintain a low profile. The couple shares a love of golf, with Jim on an 8 handicap and Vimu on 18, according to the Golf.co.nz website, and in 2017 they joined other enthusiasts on a “Cape to Barnbogle” experience in Tasmania playing four courses over five days. They live in a $10m home in Pakuranga and have a $5m holiday home at Omaha Beach.