Site ‘screaming out’ to become destination cafe
A three-bedroom home that has previously housed a boutique fashion retailer and a beautician in one of New Zealand’s most popular seaside holiday towns has been placed on the market.
The 120sq m former home sitting on a prime commercially zoned 845sq m corner site in the Bay of Plenty township of Waihi Beach is being promoted as perfect for conversion into a food and beverage venue.
The Citrus Ave property is on the fringe of Waihi Beach’s limited retail hub which comprises a hotel/ restaurant, grocery store, liquor shop and takeaway food outlets.
The freehold corner site land and building are being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Hamilton, with the process closing on 16 June.
Salesperson Josh Smith said the building was “screaming out” to be converted into a destination cafe for the greater Waihi Beach area.
“Commercially zoned properties are rare to find in this part of Waihi Beach, especially a property which is both vacant, and for sale,” Smith said.
“The wedge-shaped site benefits not only from a highprofile position immediately overlooking Wilson Rd, which connects Waihi Beach with Bowentown and Athenree, with Waihi Beach a mere 375m away, but also from considerable road parking on Citrus Ave.
“It has a 40m frontage onto both Wilson Rd and Citrus Ave. The higher-sided Citrus Ave portion of the site has views over the suburban environment between Wilson Rd and the beach.
“The timing for marketing the property for sale is perfect for a new owner looking to establish a cafe to come in, acquire any necessary council consents, and undertake any remedial interior design works — such as the installation of a commercial kitchen and customer bathrooms — over the quieter winter months, then open in time for the summer 2022-23 season.
“There is only a handful of true cafes in the area stretching from Waihi Beach in the north to the adjoining settlements of Bowentown and Athenree to the south, and none have the prime position which 1 Citrus Ave enjoys.”
Smith said the property’s infrastructure and topography would enable a relatively straightforward conversion from the current retail format into a food and beverage venue – either licensed or unlicensed – at the gateway to the area’s concentrated commercial centre, Waihi Village.
“Externally, the premises and surrounding green spaces are ready-made for sustaining a food and beverage operation, with a large concrete and tile deck area linking the internal space with the gardens and lawn,” he said.
“A landscaped garden area on the lower slopes of the site is ready to be fenced in and converted to a children’s playground.
“The elevated grassed lawn area running to the apex of the property is perfect for putting out picnic-style wooden tables.”
Smith said the premises, built in the 1990s, could also be used to accommodate a business such as a legal practice, accountancy firm, hair salon or doctor’s rooms.
“Waihi Beach’s existing commercial properties are very much focused on servicing the day-to-day needs of the local community, which obviously grows considerably over the summer holiday periods,” he said.
“As a result, there is virtually no commercial office space in the locale, with businesses in that realm tending to be ‘work from home’ entities.”