Huge business development hub planned for Frankton
Stephen Ward
Another massive Hamilton business development - involving a commercial, industrial and logistics complex - is planned for a 58-hectare area on the city’s outskirts.
The land is off Wickham St in Frankton, near the Hamilton Transfer Station, and has a price of more than $96 million according to documentation from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
It said the ministers of finance and land information had made an overseas investment decision involving an application from Industre Property Rua Limited.
The company is owned by New Zealand national stock exchange-listed Stride
Property Group and a range of unnamed international institutional investors.
Industre Property Rua’s shareholding is listed as New Zealand (47%), American (15%) and various (38%), LINZ said.
The vendor is 95% New Zealand-owned and 5% Japanese-owned Southpark Agri Development Limited.
It’s unclear whether the deal has been formally settled yet and the timing of any development.
Stride’s chief executive Philip Littlewood did not return calls seeking further information.
However, documents on Waipā District Council’s website show a commissioner decided in December last year to grant resource consent for Industre Property Rua establishing a Wattyl paint storage and distribution facility, as well as other buildings, at 16A Wickham St.
The commissioner determined environmental effects would be no more than minor.
Another document indicates the firm has a history of activity in the area.
LINZ’s website said the land involved in the latest decision in January is currently used for occasional grazing by stock and as a yard for temporary storage of equipment and vehicles.
Industre Property Rua “will use the land to develop into a commercial, industrial and logistics complex comprising approximately 30 lots to be leased or sold to industrial, manufacturing and logistics operators”.
LINZ said the main benefits of the deal were likely to include extra jobs and investment for development purposes, as well as promotion of regional development and economic competitiveness.
“The investment is also likely to advance Government’s regional development policies.”
Consent for the purchase was granted after the applicant met investor test criterion and because of benefits to the country, LINZ said.