Society Insider: The Chow brothers to open Aka at Radisson Red; Anna Mowbray-backed leadership summit returns to Auckland

The brothers tell Society Insider that Aka was central to their vision of the new hotel development from day one.

Their Stonewood Group, which they say has $1 billion in assets across real estate and infrastructure, purchased 280 Queen St in 2019. The 50-year-old building was formerly home to the Countrywide and National Banks.

“What followed was a complete reimagining of the 15-storey property,” John Chow says.

“Not simply a refurbishment, but a $220 million ground-up transformation into a mixed-use hospitality, retail and dining destination designed to contribute to the future of Auckland’s city centre,” Michael Chow says.

As the city centre enters a new stage of relevance, thanks to the City Rail Link that is due to open in the second half of this year, the brothers, who own multimillion-dollar homes in Auckland’s eastern suburbs and a home at Jacks Point, Queenstown, say they are proud of the building they have created.

One of their Auckland homes is in a swanky street in St Heliers and the other is on an equally gentrified street in Ōrākei, which they had on the market last year and were seeking offers of more than $10m.

The hotel is the first Radisson Red to open in New Zealand, and John Chow says they’re proud to bring the brand here.

“It’s also the first Radisson Red in Australasia, which reflects both the scale of the opportunity we saw here and our confidence in Auckland as an international destination,” Michael Chow says.

The development has created a pedestrian thoroughfare between 280 Queen St and 33 Lorne St, connecting two of the CBD’s key streets and establishing a new laneway featuring retail offerings.

Two months ago, the brothers handed over the 322-guest-room hotel to Tim Cordon, COO of the Radisson Hotel Group for the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia Pacific.

“Stonewood has delivered the development, with Radisson Hotel Group now operating the hotel in a partnership that brings global expertise together with a strong local vision,” John Chow says.

Stonewood Group has retained ownership of Aka (Chinese and Japanese for “red”), which the Chow brothers have made their own hospitality passion project.

It was inspired by a trip to London in 2017, where they visited Sushisamba, a restaurant on the 39th floor of Bishopsgate’s Heron Tower. They dreamed of creating something similar in Auckland.

Radisson Red is the Chows’ fifth hotel development. Their most recent openings were the Pullman Rotorua in 2020 and the Oaks Hotel Wellington on Courtenay Place in 2019.

The brothers’ property career began on Courtenay Place in 1999 when they bought the old ANZ Bank building, 500m from their family’s takeaway shop.

Their parents started the shop after the family moved to New Zealand from Hong Kong in 1984, when John Chow was 13 and Michael Chow was 9.

The brothers went on to run the takeaway, saving up for their first building purchase.

Wellington’s leasing market wasn’t strong in the early 90s, and seeing their sons were overleveraged, their parents, Thomas and Rose Chow, sold the family home in Lower Hutt and the whole family moved into the empty building’s first floor, including their sisters Vicki and Jenny Chow, and John Chow’s wife, Connie Chow.

An offer John Chow rejected, of a strip club moving into the ground floor, led to the brothers changing tack and in 2000 they went into partnership with an Auckland strip club owner to set up Mermaids in Wellington. It was the beginning of an era where the Chow brothers became kings of the adult entertainment industry, owning strip clubs and brothels in both cities.

In 2016, with a sizeable property portfolio already established, the Chows purchased one of New Zealand’s biggest residential building franchises, Stonewood Homes, and over the next three years wound down their remaining Mermaids strip club businesses in Wellington and Auckland in 2019. Parent company Stonewood Group was created to primarily focus on property development, hotels and construction.

Sisters Vicki and Jenny Chow are directors at Stonewood group, along with former Prime Minister Sir John Key as strategic adviser, while Key’s son Max Key is an executive director. The Keys first partnered with the Chows in 2022 through their property development firm MTK Capital to form Stonewood Key Capital. The investment fund builds residential housing developments and bridges investments between China and New Zealand.

Sir John Key was with the brothers last November when Michael Chow celebrated his 50th birthday on the Radisson Red rooftop space, which was nearing completion at the time.

Now complete, Aka is ready for its opening party next week. Covering 800sq m and seating 300 people, it features an outdoor bar and private spaces under a retractable roof. It also offers 260-degree city and harbour views, making it larger than other rooftop bars such as Bar Albert and Queens Rooftop Bar, with an outlook from Albert Park to the harbour.

The interiors feature deep reds, velvet textures and marble finishes, alongside modern Asian-style design elements designed to create a wow factor. At the centre sits the rooftop bar, anchored by an installation reminiscent of a modern cherry blossom canopy, complemented with lanterns.

On Wednesday evening more than 200 guests will attend Aka’s opening, including motoring influencer Taylor Serage, man-about-town Colin Mathura-Jeffree, wellness couple Marc Ellis and Mibella Villafana, bespoke tailor Murray Crane and entrepreneur Edna Swart. New Zealand pop star Cassie Henderson will perform while guests enjoy cocktails and mini menu offerings.

The following day, the Chows will host an event for stakeholders, which is understood to include a number of rich listers, as well as Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, a friend of the Chows, his deputy Desley Simpson and Sir John Key.

Aka’s head chef is Edberg Loh, a seasoned Asian fusion chef with more than a decade of experience across Singapore’s high-intensity kitchens, such as Marina Bay Sands, as well as Auckland restaurants including Cafe Hanoi and Xuxu Dumpling Bar.

Loh’s signature offerings at Aka include king prawn har gow with tobiko and wagyu beef pa Peking duck; crispy and fragrant karaage chicken with yuzu and togarashi; deep-fried pork and prawn shumai with XO sauce; and a focus on premium seafood.

“What’s been particularly rewarding through the early tastings is seeing how the space evolves from something more refined during the day into a vibrant, social environment in the evening,” John Chow says.

The brothers have trusted bar specialist Nick Bevin, formerly of The Churchill and Kingi at The Hotel Britomart, to curate the cocktail and beverage programme.

Society Insider is told Aka is expected to become the new favourite hangout for Auckland’s movers and shakers in the business community, the local arts crowd and A-listers.

Events expert Rochelle Moffitt and e-commerce multimillionaire entrepreneur Iyia Liu have enlisted some superstar speakers for their upcoming corporate summits.

Moffitt’s Revved, which she co-founded with Zeil founder Anna Mowbray, one of New Zealand’s wealthiest women, will take place on August 6 at the Viaduct Events Centre, with a roster of high-profile New Zealand businesspeople on the bill.

Liu’s Girls in Business is on September 5 at the newly opened the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), with successful female speakers including Toni Street, Jenny May Clarkson and Dame Valerie Adams.

Moffitt says she and Liu are not in competition with each other and their events are aimed at different audiences.

“Iyia and I regularly share insights on suppliers, costs and lessons learned; that kind of collaboration strengthens the entire industry,” Moffitt says.

Revved came about after Mowbray’s disappointment with motivational speaker David Goggins’ event at Auckland’s Trusts Arena in November 2024.

Enlisted as one of the event’s guest speakers, Mowbray said at the time she expected it to have been a day to inspire, educate and motivate, but instead “felt like a series of high-pressure sales pitches”.

“After Anna spoke out about it publicly, I messaged her saying someone needed to create the event people deserved,” Moffitt tells Society Insider.

Mowbray said if Moffitt built the event she would back it.

“And she has – with her time, strategic advice and the Zeil team stepping in whenever needed,” Moffitt says.

The pair met at one of the late entrepreneur Jake Millar’s Unfiltered events a decade ago. Moffitt and Mowbray became great friends. Moffitt was the celebrant at Mowbray’s wedding to former All Black Ali Williams on Fiji’s Kokomo Private Island in 2022.

Moffitt’s sister is actor Kim Crossman and their mum, Jill Arkley, founded and owned the Auckland Academy of Dance, which had more than 1500 pupils.

Three years ago, Moffitt set up Tickled Pink Agency, a talent management and brand-building agency for professionals, including politicians and business leaders, which Moffitt has recently renamed Decibel Agency.

A few months later, she started a corporate women’s series called Sip & Share, a bimonthly series of networking events for 100 guests at corporate offices, including the New Zealand head offices of Google, Microsoft and BNZ. There, Moffitt interviewed successful women about their career stories. Mowbray was her first guest.

The first Revved was held last year at The Viaduct Events Centre, with about 700 attendees, and a special lighting up of the Sky Tower in Revved’s logo colours of green and blue to mark the occasion.

Speakers for the inaugural event included Mowbray and Williams, businessman and former TV presenter Sir Ian Taylor, Tend co-founder Cecilia Robinson and Kiwibank CEO, Steve Jurkovich.

Moffitt is aiming for 800 to 1000 guests this year and says the event will be designed around “personal, professional and purposeful development”. Mowbray will return and host a panel called So What’s Next? Other speaking slots include Air NZ CEO Nikhil Ravishankar, One NZ CEO Jason Paris and insurance pioneer Naomi Ballantyne, who founded the business Partners for Life, which was sold for a billion dollars to Japanese company Dai-ichi Life Holdings in 2022.

That evening, Ballantyne will be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame Laureates.

“With an election looming, this is a consequential time for New Zealand and no one can navigate it alone,” Moffitt says. “Revved is about bringing people together to engineer the future we want, together.”

Mowbray says this year’s Revved will be a day of honest conversations. “Our Revved speakers will leave no doubt that we’re facing exponential change – and share the radical steps they’re taking,” Mowbray says. “What we do, or don’t do, next will shape the future we hand to the next generation.”

Moffitt says she loves connecting people and seeing what comes from it – friendships, business opportunities, even life-changing moments.

“I remember people, I see opportunities and I act on them. I’m a connector and I’m very intentional about it.

“There’s something powerful about putting the right people in proximity, that’s where magic things happen,” Moffitt says.

Meanwhile, Liu’s Girls In Business is entering its 10th year.

Liu started her event as a small gathering of like-minded women and she says it has grown into New Zealand’s largest women’s business event.

Last year’s event had 800 attendees and Liu would like to hit that number again, but says the venue at the NZICC has capacity for 1200.

Liu will be a speaker, alongside Coast radio co-host Toni Street and broadcaster Jenny May Clarkson, who have both recently started their own communications coaching businesses. Also on the bill are Olympian Dame Valerie Adams, fashion designer Caitlin Crisp and former Shortland Street star Courtenay Louise.

“Getting the right mix of stories, industries, diversity, and energy across the day is almost like curating a playlist,” Liu says.

“We always start with the women in the audience. What do [they] need to hear right now? From there, we look for speakers who have incredible credentials but also real lived experience.”

Liu says her attendees leave with a fresh perspective and a network of women who are on the same journey.

“One of the things I hear after every event is ‘I met someone today who I can do business with’, and that happens every single year.”

Opening night of & Juliet

& Juliet opened at Auckland’s Civic recently, marking the official New Zealand premiere of the hit musical and the first stop in the production’s national tour before it heads to Wellington and Christchurch.

Red carpet guests included actors Morgana O’Reilly, Antonia Prebble and Harry McNaughton; media personalities Erin Simpson and Luke Bird; broadcasters Andrew Dickens, Aziz Al Sa’afin and Daniel Faitaua; and creatives and influencers including Elise Maric, Colin Mathura-Jeffree and Arii Jade.

The Hits’ breakfast hosts Jono Pryor, Megan Papas and Ben Boyce were there to show support for Megan’s husband, Andrew Papas, who plays Romeo in the show.

Tōtara Hospice hosted its inaugural Black & White Ball on Saturday evening in the Grand Room at the Cordis Auckland.

The evening was MCed by comedian Michelle A’Court, with speakers including actor Michelle Langstone, who shared a heartfelt account of her father’s final days and the compassion he received at Tōtara Hospice.

Guests included Tōtara Hospice’s Jodi Pretscherer and her husband, DJ Murry Sweetpants (who provided the evening’s tunes), Ray White Remuera’s Aaron Ward, The Carrybag Company owner Trevor Cox, Gourmet Grocery multimillionaire Melanie Kennerley, BNZ communications manager Robyn Larkham, marketing consultant Louise Kelly and South Auckland businessman and community leader Kharag Singh.

Ward was the auctioneer and the night raised more than $100,000 for the hospice.

Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.