Imperial Tobacco’s site for sale
The site of Imperial Tobacco’s factory in Lower Hutt is for sale.
Imperial Tobacco in February confirmed the factory would go through a staged shutdown and the plant would be decommissioned by the end of the year with the loss of 122 jobs.
The date has not yet been confirmed for the end of production.
The 2.25-hectare flat site and substantial warehouse, manufacturing and office buildings was being marketed by Bayleys Wellington. Interest closes on Wednesday, June 24.
The opportunity to buy a substantial flat site in the popular suburb was likely to attract the interest of developers, said Grant Young and Fraser Press of Bayleys.
‘‘The General Business zoning is inherently flexible and while the existing 15,396sqm, purpose-built office, factory and warehouse buildings on-site could have relevance and be repurposed for other business use, there are multiple options for a prospective purchaser to explore,’’ Young said.
The property, known as 124-130 Richmond St, Petone, occupied a well-positioned site bounded by residential housing to the Richmond St frontage and light industrial/commercial usage to the Bouverie St entrance.
Commercial occupiers in the vicinity included Gilmours, Mitre 10 Mega, Ministry for Primary Industries and Plumbing World.
With due council process, the Imperial Tobacco property assets offered scope for redevelopment, occupation in its current form, addvalue improvement and subdivision, Young said.
‘‘The industrial sector has outperformed the wider market for a number of years now and appears to be well-insulated globally from pandemic-induced business pressures given the demand for logistics, storage and broader e-commerce supply chains.
‘‘In the Wellington region, there is a well-documented shortage of industrial land and Petone has proved to be extremely popular for big box retail brands.’’
Retirement living and residential development were two other options that could be explored through council avenues.
The site had been an important part of the local Petone economy for around 90 years, although Imperial Tobacco had owned the site since the late-1990s.
‘‘Our understanding is that the original owners of the property and the first to manufacture cigarettes in New Zealand, W D and H O Wills Limited, moved their operation to the Petone site around 1930, after establishing their business in Wellington in 1919 and needing to expand,’’ Press said.
‘‘By the 1940s, the Petone compound was lauded as being a very desirable place to work with spacious grounds, a nursery to propagate plants for the park-like gardens, a golf putting green, deck tennis courts on top of the factory building, a sports’ mistress to coordinate recreational activities for staff and a canteen offering panoramic views from its upper level windows.’’
W D and H O Wills Limited job advertisements of the time targeted ‘‘Hutt Valley womenfolk’’, claiming it could offer ‘‘nice work for nimble fingers’’ and the factory employed significant numbers of locals.
W D and H O Wills Limited job advertisements of the time targeted ‘‘Hutt Valley womenfolk’’, claiming it could offer ‘‘nice work for nimble fingers’’ and the factory employed significant numbers of locals.