City’s northern entrance properties have fast food potential

A multi-million dollar pair of industrial properties at New Plymouth’s northern entrance are being touted as potential sites for more fast food outlets.

The two Devon Rd sites up for sale includes that formerly occupied by food wholesaler Toops and land currently occupied by McCurdy Trucks, across from The Valley Mega Centre.

Bayleys Reality has listed the 686 Devon Rd site with a price tag of $2.6 million, with the remaining sections of 690 to 694 Devon Rd for sale by tender.

Bayley’s Taranaki sales agent Alan Johnston said both properties would likely interest developers looking to construct modern showrooms, trade or industrial premises but a change in planning rules could open the sites for retail and/or hospitality development.

‘‘With the nearest McDonald’s and KFC restaurants within the CBD, and the area’s population set for growth on the back of new residential developments, the sites are ideally suited to take advantage of Kiwis’ appetite for fast food,’’ he said.

‘‘New Plymouth lacks full service fast food sites. These typically feature a free-standing restaurant, a children’s play area and drivethru facility, with parking, on sites ranging from 1,500m2 to more than

3,500m2,’’ he said.

He said the site was passed by

17,000 vehicles a day and that the site could alternatively house a business or retail park.

The sites are also in the area where property developer and Novotel Hobson Hotel owner Philip Brown has previously indicated he wanted to build a $40m 140-room hotel.

He 2016 he announced plans for the hotel somewhere between Waiwhakaiho and Bell Block but has never revealed the exact location.

On Thursday Brown would not say whether he was interested in the Devon Rd sites but said he was due to meet with council early next week.

Whatever happens to the sites, New Plymouth’s northern entrance strip is in for a big change.

In December 2016 fertiliser company Ravensdown sold its huge plot just down the road.

Ten months on it is still not known who bought the 7.44ha site but Johnston said the site was promised to undergo ‘‘a massive redevelopment’’.

Johnston said the latest 1.5ha site on the market could also be a prime spot for retail if the New Plymouth District Council were to approve a planning consent change.

The land is currently zoned industrial.

‘‘Devon Rd was once a popular area for heavy industrial properties, but more recently it has become a destination for service industries and shopping complexes,’’ he said.

Johnston said surrounding area had also seen growth in residential developments, ‘‘which could support new businesses’’.

However such development could run counter to proposed changes to the New Plymouth District Plan, which is expected to be finalised later this year.

These specifically state big-box retail shops establishing outside ‘‘traditional centres on industrial land’’, which would include the Waiwhakaiho sites, threatens retailers in the city’s centre business district.

New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom said the site’s location off a State Highway meant NZTA would also need to be approached in regards to future development.

The District Plan will open for public submissions and feedback in November.