Prime land banking opportunity in major growth area

With the squeeze coming on available industrial land north of Auckland city, a substantial 20.23 hectares of freehold land at Dairy Flat offers a prime land banking opportunity in light of a proposed zone change that would allow for significant development as a light industrial area.

James Chan, director of international sales for Bayleys Auckland, is marketing the site on behalf of off-shore clients who purchased the land in 2004 to hold for future development. The property is for sale by International Tender closing 29 April, 2010 through Chan and Phill Priestley of Bayleys North of Auckland.

“My clients now have other projects that are coming to fruition hence this sale opens the way for another astute investor to recognise the intrinsic value of this land banking opportunity in an area that is destined for big things,” says Chan.

“Much of the future business development north of the harbour bridge will, by default, be in the wider Silverdale area. They are not making any more industrial land closer to Auckland so it falls to Silverdale to cater for future demand created by a northward population drift.

“Employment opportunities will be stimulated through new business growth in the area and we anticipate that a new industrial development will be modelled along the lines of the quality industrial/business parks in Highbrook in East Tamaki and in the North Harbour Industrial estate in Albany.”

The property is located at 1660 State Highway 17 at Dairy Flat and is near Snow Planet and other recreational complexes. The site falls within a strategic ‘triangle’ of land bounded by the northern gateway motorway (State Highway One), the Silverdale motorway intersection, State Highway 17 and the North Shore Airfield. The primary motorway access to the site is from the Silverdale interchange.

Strong population growth is forecast for the wider Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast area and there is a significant residential development currently underway in Silverdale with 3000 new dwellings planned. With a mixture of low, medium and high-density homes to be built during the next 10 years on more than 300 hectares of land, the Millwater residential project between Silverdale and Orewa is one of the largest developments in Auckland. Stage one, which consists of about 80 properties, has been released and is 80 percent sold.

“With an expected population injection of an estimated 10,000 people, this residential subdivision is promising for the future of Dairy Flat as a light industrial and business area,” says Chan.

Currently, the subject property is zoned General Rural which limits development options under the Rodney District Council’s District Plan. However, the recently published background document to the Silverdale West Structure Plan identifies this and other adjoining land as a proposed mixed-use light industrial area which would open up a wide range of potential usage.

Council is currently preparing Stage 1 of the Silverdale West Structure Plan and then Stage 2 will see the development of design options for the area. The intentions of the structure plan will then be converted into a district plan change. While there is no indication yet as to when public notification of such a change is likely to occur, the council is committed to the new usage plans, Chan says.

The area has been identified as ideal for what the council calls Group 1 business activities; generally those activities that require a large floor plate including construction, manufacturing, distribution, storage, transport and wholesale trades.

The draft Stage 1 plan highlights that “business land in North Shore City is reaching depletion, with only 2-3 years supply remaining. It is reasonable to expect that a portion of this growth will be displaced to the Hibiscus Coast being the southernmost part of Rodney District and closest to the North Shore City boundary”.

“This is a piece of land that has clearly been identified as perfect for industrial growth north of Auckland and as such, represents a significant land banking opportunity for a syndicate or company to acquire and sit on until such time as zoning changes go through and development fundamentals are realigned,” says Chan.