Former factory up for grabs
A Petone warehouse which once produced felt for the suburb’s car assembly industry is on the market for the first time in 70 years.
The warehouse and the 1568 square metre yard on the corner of Waione and Kirkcaldy streets was purpose-built in the 1940s for turning wool fibres into felt, which was its primary use until 2005.
The felt was mainly for car upholstery, as well as carpet underlay and mattress-spring protection.
Andrew Smith, of Bayleys Wellington, said the property would be popular with developers, as the site was ‘‘ripe for major redevelopment’’.
The property’s private chain of ownership, among various families with a connection to the wool felting company, meant the property had not been on the market for 70 years.
Wool felting is a fading industry in New Zealand due to the popularity of artificial fibres and the move to manufacturing offshore.
John Masseurs, who owns the property with his brother Andrew, said when tariff protections in the New Zealand motor industry were removed in the 1990s, and it became cheaper to import fullyassembled cars, the demand for Petone’s felted wool products declined as car assembly plants closed.
‘‘Around a decade ago, the other markets we supplied largely moved to using polyester and other man-made fibres,’’ Masseurs said.
‘‘It’s all reflective of a changing economy and a shift to manufacturing more cheaply offshore.’’
The wool-felting plant was decommissioned in 2005, but traces of the former factory still remain, including a wheel from the ceiling-mounted crane that was used to hoist machinery up for on-site engineers to maintain and repair.
While the brothers felt a strong family connection to the property, they believed it deserves to be placed with buyers who would better utilise it, Masseurs said.
‘‘Petone is enjoying a revival in popularity and the opportunity to see the site redeveloped is exciting.’’
Smith said the building was leased to Rebound Clothing, however, the business planned to leave at the end of April 2018.
‘‘There’s holding income for a new owner which would effectively buy some time while redevelopment plans were formulated.
‘‘Realistically, given the profile and location of the site, it’s ripe for major redevelopment,’’ he said.
This property could be a ‘‘development opportunity with legs’’, Smith said.
‘‘Industrial property is in high demand in the Wellington region and there’s simply not enough good quality stock available, nor is there any vacant land coming on-stream in the broader Petone area.’’
The land and building will go under the auctioneer’s hammer on October 26.