Frankton ‘Lighthouse’
One of the original sections in one of Hamilton’s foremost commercial and industrial precincts is for sale.
The rectangular-shaped property, at 9-11 Woodward St, Frankton, comprises 1548sq m of flat freehold land and a 100sq m three-bedroom home.
Hamilton City Council initiated an industrial zone in Woodward St to encourage industrial tenancies there, rather than see them take up land more suited to business or commercial use.
Bayleys Hamilton salespeople Sarah Liu and Anne-Marie Brown expect potential buyers to look at making more efficient use of the site, by removing the residential dwelling and the surrounding mature trees.
They says the landholding — which is in two titles — goes to auction at noon, on April 11, and features in Bayleys’ latest Total Property portfolio magazine.
“Built in the 1960s when Frankton was a residential suburb on the edge of the CBD, this really is a ‘lighthouse’ property,” says Liu. “Today it stands out like a beacon in a surrounding sea of industrial and light manufacturing premises across Frankton.”
Liu says the regular shape and frontage on to Woodward St suit several development options — including a large warehouse or factory premises; or multiple terraced industrial warehousing, manufacturing, or engineering entity-tenanted units of 100-200sq m in floorplate.
“Potential buyers, who have viewed the property, say that subject to consenting one could create terraced tilt slab-style block of units at the rear; with potential to add further units along the front, adjacent to the driveway.
“Intensification along these lines would deliver a far more efficient land use and go some way toward meeting the strong market demand for small industrial premises in Frankton.”
Liu points out that bare and redevelopment land in the suburb has sold for between $250-$370 per sq m over the past 12 months, depending on the size and location of the property, and what structures were in place on the land. From a leasing perspective, warehousing and factory units in the Frankton precinct are presently being signed-up for between $90-$110 per sq m, plus GST and outgoings.
Brown says the Woodward St site could be subdivided and reconfigured to suit either owner/occupier tenants, or investors.