Kaiser Aetna Australia

Macquarie Builders was an Australian consortium that built several hundred homes during the 1970s.

Kaiser Aetna Jennings (1970–72)

Background

A.V. Jennings was an Australian residential construction company founded in 1932. With help from the post-WW2 property boom, it became the largest builder in the country by the 1960s, with major developments underway all around Australia.
Kaiser Aetna was established in 1969 as a $200m joint venture between steel manufacturer Kaiser Aluminium and insurance company Aetna Life. Based in California, the conglomerate owned over 120,000 acres throughout the United States by 1970.

Formation

Kaiser Aetna Jennings was formed in June 1970 as a private consortium jointly owned by Kaiser, Aetna and A.V. Jennings. Officially launched two years later with a capital of $6m, the partnership was established to provide six large-scale "community developments" on land owned by Jennings in Sydney and Melbourne.
Overseen by general manager Don McLellan, KAJ had a staff of 12 by 1971, most of whom were industry experts and analysts giving advice about land acquisitions. Managerially, KAJ held a philosophy of thoroughly assessing potential investments – in contrast to the often aggressive, intuitive nature of competitors. McLellan believed that well-planned land development was the key to success, telling a reporter in 1971 that:

"We have a small staff capable of handling any situation that requires in-depth knowledge... It is more satisfying in the long run to take a fellow with a degree or extensive technical knowledge as he is more likely to prove a worthwhile asset once he becomes experienced"

By July 1971, KAJ had acquired 1633 acres of land for its developments. Going into the 1971–72 financial year, it reported a "modest profit" from its developments – contributing to record turnovers at Jennings and satisfactory earnings for Kaiser Aetna.

Activities in Victoria and New South Wales

In Melbourne, KAJ initially established a temporary office near the site of their proposed Glenvale and Monash Industrial Estates, but soon relocated to a more central space on Collins Street. By 1971, planning and construction was already well underway on a number of KAJ's outer-Melbourne projects – including the aforementioned Glenvale and Monash Industrial Estates near the intersection of Wellington & Springvale Roads in Mulgrave, the Thomastown Industrial Estate off Settlement Road, and the Bayswater Industrial estate at London Drive.
KAJ also briefly owned the former Fritsch Holzer brickworks, intending to develop it for industrial land, but instead auctioned it off for a profit. By far, the consortium's most ambitious project was the "Dandenong Park Industrial Estate" at Dandenong South. With an estimated cost of $18m, it occupied 190 acres and was set to provide around 15,000 jobs. It also featured a service complex for employees, including a creche for working mothers, dental and medical services, a hotel-motel complex, shops, and commercial offices.
In New South Wales, KAJ operated from offices at 139 Macquarie Street, Sydney. In 1971, large industrial sites went to sale in Blacktown, around Bessemer Street and Sunnyholt Road. Another industrial estate was located off the Great Western Highway at Amax Avenue, in Girraween.

Dissolution

In June 1972, Jennings abruptly announced that it would withdraw from of its venture with Kaiser Aetna over internal disagreement. Looking to the future, a Jennings spokesperson said that the company would prefer to approach property development with Kaiser Aetna on a project-by-project basis rather than as a joint owner of an ongoing business.

Kaiser Aetna Australia (1973–77)

Following the dissolution of KAJ, Kaiser Aetna considered going public in Australia.
Instead, they secured additional funding from American investors, and restructured KAJ as the Australian subsidiary of Kaiser Aetna.

Macquarie Builders

In June 1973, Kaiser Aetna Australia launched their Victorian residential construction division – Macquarie Builders. Headquartered at Hawthorn, it focused on building homes at Kaiser Aetna's various housing estates in Melbourne. These were sold with as house-and-land packages.
The first three Macquarie display homes in early 1974 at Kaiser Aetna's 220-lot "Pioneer Ridge" estate in Vermont South. The estate is identifiable by it's street names, which share a colonial theme – like Explorers Court and Stockmans Drive.