‘Dire shortage’ of land adds value to property
A dire shortage of developable industrial land in the wider Wellington region, coupled with unrelentingly low vacancy rates across the sought-after established industrial precincts, underpins the value proposition of a Lower Hutt property with scale.
Almost 8000sq m of General Business-zoned land with supporting buildings – suitable for significant upgrade or complete redevelopment – is for sale in the city’s most-contested precinct of Seaview/Gracefield.
Currently occupied by Charta Packaging, who will be vacating the site later this year, the land and buildings at 20-30 Bell Rd South on the corner of Gracefield Rd will be sold by tender closing at 4pm on Wednesday, 11 August.
Ethan Hourigan and Richard Faisandier of Bayleys Wellington Commercial are marketing the property which they believe will open the door to owner-occupiers or developers looking for a welllocated chunk of industrial land in an area where options are extremely thin on the ground.
“Assessments put the property at 20 per cent of new building standard, so there’s clearly some structural strengthening work required to bring the existing buildings up to current seismic thresholds,” said Hourigan.
“An add-value investor would recognise the inherent potential that structurally-upgraded buildings in this location, with this sort of scale, would represent in a leasing market that is perpetually throttled for opportunity around Gracefield.”
Whether the buildings are upgraded and repurposed or demolished to make way for a blankslate redevelopment with the zoning supporting buildings up to 12m high, Faisandier said the location speaks volumes and many potential scenarios would make sense in the current market.
“Some buyers may also see value in subdividing the freehold site, as multi-units could co-exist with ease given the good access off Gracefield Road and the capacity for the site to offer a really workable footprint,” he said. “Alternatively, if the existing buildings were strengthened and upgraded, there’s potential for net income of around $436,000 per annum plus GST and outgoings.”
The 5520sq m building area currently comprises a warehouse/ factory of 4940sq m, 280sq m of office and amenities, and an additional 300sq m mezzanine level. In addition, there is almost 1500sq m of secure yard space.