Industrial development opportunity in Golden Triangle
One of the last remaining industrial development sites in Pokeno’s Gateway Business Park is for sale, offering a chance to establish a centrally located business hub in an ideal position for servicing customers in Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
The freehold land offering of 28,600sq m has resource consent for a four-lot subdivision with three road frontages.
Josh Franklin and Mitch Broderson of Colliers International’s Industrial team are marketing the property for sale with Damon Wyllie and Simon
Andrews of Savills New Zealand. It is to be sold by deadline private treaty closing on August 19.
Franklin says Auckland’s tight greenfield land market and the continued shift south has meant sites of this nature provide an excellent opportunity for owner-occupiers or developers to future proof their business or buy at excellent value compared to traditional South Auckland industrial locations.
“This has resulted in strong uptake in Pokeno, as well as neighbouring industrial areas such as Drury South Crossing. The huge infrastructure investment and growth in Drury will add further value to the Pokeno region moving forward,” he says.
“The property for sale is one of the last remaining development sites in the Gateway Business Park, making it a viable option for businesses in the Waikato and Auckland regions.
“It provides a central position to service customers in the north and south, and further afield into the fastgrowing Bay of Plenty region.
“Light Industry zoning provides for a wide range of industrial uses – including manufacturing, processing, assembling, warehousing and distribution – plus a range of non-industrial uses.
“The site’s subdivision consent provides for four lots ranging in size from 3,600sq m to 11,500sq m. The zoning allows for minimum lot sizes of 1,200sq m, providing an opportunity to further subdivide if required.
“With so much potential, in such a great location, there are plenty of options for owner-occupiers, developers and land bankers to explore.”
Wyllie says businesses are realising the opportunities that Pokeno affords. “Pokeno itself is poised for a demographic boom. Over 2,000 people reside in Pokeno today with the number set to increase to 7,000 within the next decade. The town’s projected future population will be 20,000 people.”
Broderson adds: “The Gateway Business Park is well serviced by access points from SH1, including a new bridge into the northern end of the park that was completed in 2019.
“The park is home to a number of high-profile and large industrial users, including Yashili New Zealand Dairy Company and Hynds Pipe Systems. In addition, Synlait has recently established a new nutritional manufacturing facility at Pokeno on a 28ha site.
“This ongoing development by large industrial occupiers shows there is great confidence in the area’s future growth as a manufacturing, processing and distribution hub.”
A historic property from New Zealand’s early colonial days is on the market for the first time in a generation.
O¯ rewa House, in O¯ rewa, north of Auckland, comprises a lovingly restored two-level villa and a small cottage with multiple commercial tenants and an apartment.
It sits on a 4,251sq m freehold site with parklike grounds close to O¯ rewa Beach.
The property is the oldest site of colonial settlement in O¯ rewa, having been part of a landholding purchased by Governor William Hobson in 1841. It has changed hands rarely since. The current owner, Kevin Harvey, was instrumental in restoring Orewa ¯ House from the brink of destruction. “The property was in such a bad state of disrepair that the fire brigade planned to burn it down as a training exercise,” he says.
“Dad put a stop to that by purchasing the property in 1977, and we’ve since brought it back to its former glory.”
Kevin’s father was Les Harvey, who is known in heritage circles for buying and restoring historic buildings in Auckland.
Kevin recalls that his father first fell in love with O¯ rewa House as a young boy.
“Dad and grandad used to stay there over the school holidays, back when it was a guesthouse. They’d go fishing in the stream and became fascinated with the stories about the property’s history.”
The property was first developed by Major Isaac Rhodes Cooper, who arrived in O¯ rewa in 1856. He bought 25ha of land and recruited 40 army volunteers to dig drains and build a cottage from wide, pit-sawn kauri planks.
Cooper became Orewa’s ¯ postmaster in 1857, running the post office from his cottage, and was twice elected to the Auckland Provincial Council. He later led the Wh¯anganui militia but was dismissed in 1862 over his relationship with Rora Te Makohe, the daughter of the chief of Ng¯ati Tamakana.
Cooper married Rora in 1864 and the couple returned to O¯ rewa House, where they had two children. A walnut tree, gifted to Rora Cooper by Governor George Grey, remains on the grounds to this day.
The Coopers remained at Orewa ¯ House until 1868, when Major Cooper was appointed commander of the Thames militia. They sold up to a couple of aristocratic background – Major Collings Jersey de Grut and his wife Anne – who had earlier established an unsuccessful farm at Chelsea on Auckland’s North Shore.
The Gruts extended the cottage dramatically, transforming it into a 30-room mansion with a ballroom, billiard room and metre-deep cast iron bath, reputed to be the first of its kind imported to New Zealand.
Major Grut continued to run the post office and established a store, which accepted kauri gum as payment. He also set up a surf boat service to transfer goods and passengers ashore from the Auckland mail steamer, and cut a carriage track over the hill to Waiwera, which was later formalised as part of the road network. These developments –
along with the Gruts’ renowned hospitality and the skill of their cook, Mrs Sykes – ensured O¯ rewa House became a local centre of commerce and social life.
Major Grut died in 1888 and his two younger sons continued to run the business, which was registered as a guesthouse in 1906. The Gruts sold up in 1919 to Alice and Thomas Eaves, who set about extending the dining room and adding more bedrooms.
Alice Eaves was a passionate guesthouse host who arranged concerts and tea parties in the garden, punting on Nukumea Stream, gala balls, yachting regattas and trips to the Waiwera hot pools. She gifted to council the adjoining 16ha of coastal bush, which features stands of kauri and broadleaf forest, with an historic pa site nestled amongst the trees. The Alice Eaves Scenic Reserve remains a popular destination today.
The Eaves sold the property in 1957 to a group of Theosophists, who continued to lease it as a guesthouse, but later let it fall into disrepair. Les Harvey purchased the property two decades later.
“Dad admitted he was mad to buy it, but he was never motivated by profit,” says Kevin Harvey. “He wanted to preserve the heritage and create something unique. And he absolutely loved being there – he described it as a magic place.”
The Harvey family is now selling the land and buildings at O¯ rewa House to realise the continued renewal of their assets in Parnell.
Colliers International is marketing the property at 498 Hibiscus Coast Highway, for sale by auction at 11am on Wednesday 26 August.
Tony Allsop, Director of Colliers’ Auckland Investment Sales team, says it is a rare chance to secure a unique historic asset.
“There’s simply nothing else like this available in O¯ rewa, especially given the property’s rich background,” he says.
“The main two-level villa provides 774sq m plus 86sq m of verandas. The ground floor and part of the first floor have been subdivided into commercial tenancies, while the apartment sits at the northern end of the first floor.
“The ground floor includes a front reception area with an office, a larger gallery on the western side, a central hallway, five rear offices, a large tenancy on the eastern side and a rear kitchen and amenity area with three toilets. The first floor is divided into 11 offices, a hallway and two toilets.”
Together, the tenants return $105,671 plus GST in passing net annual rent.
Shoneet Chand, Director of Colliers North Shore, says all of the commercial tenants are part of the health sector, which has been relatively stable during the Covid pandemic. “These tenants include an osteopath, massage therapist, chiropractor, beautician, maternity clinic and health centre.”
The grounds feature an asphalt driveway, lawn, shrubs and mature trees including po¯hutukawa.
The buildings have Category B heritage listings, while the underlying land is zoned Mixed Housing Urban.
“O¯ rewa House represents a oneoff opportunity to buy a unique piece of New Zealand’s history,” says Allsop.