Coastal sections back on market

An abandoned waterfront subdivision caught up in the Lombard Finance receivership is being sold through a mortgagee sale for the second time.

To date, two developers have failed to complete the development of the 44-lot Blue Bay subdivision on Mahia Peninsula, between Gisborne and Napier.

Wellington developer Craig Nisbet was the first to try his hand, when he bought the site for $2 million in 2004.

Nisbet, who was bankrupted in 2008, later sold the section to another developer, Alistair Austin, whose company Gateway Mahia was financed by Lombard Finance.

Lombard was put into receivership in 2008 owing 3600 unsecured investors about $111m.

At the time, Austin said his debt to Lombard, including interest, stood at about $17m.

Work on the development stalled after Austin bought the subdivision. His company went into liquidation in December 2010.

Gateway Mahia owns most of the sections, but some have been sold to private individuals over the years.

The remaining 35 lots have a total rateable value of $3.3m.

Individual sections range from $67,000 to $143,000, well down from the $650,000 price tags associated with some when they first went on sale 12 years ago.

Bayleys Gisborne saleswoman Katie Bowen said the mortgagee would prefer to sell all the sections at once, but would consider selling individual sections or smaller blocks.

The carved stone sculptures installed by the original developer were still on site, although ‘‘in a somewhat state of disrepair’’, she said. Utilities had been connected to the section boundary lines, but might need maintenance.

When the development was first discussed, it was opposed by local people fearful of losing beach access. Claims by Maori that culturally significant sites had been bulldozed were the subject of a 2006 documentary, The Last Resort.