Hulme widow holds on to prime site

The widow of world champion Formula One racing driver Denny Hulme is sitting tight on Tauranga's most desirable undeveloped block of land.
Greeta Hulme has no immediate plans to sell the 6040sq m site on Ngatai Rd, which has been used for grazing since she and her husband bought the land in the early 1970s.
Hulme, the 1967 Formula One world champion, died from a heart attack at Bathurst in 1992, before the busy couple had the chance to build their dream home on the site.
With the global economic downturn still affecting property values, it looks like the land will remain in grazing for years yet.
"When in doubt, do nought - it is not the right time to sell," Mrs Hulme told the Bay of Plenty Times from her home in Rotorua.
She has no firm plans for the site, which stretches down to the railway line, and said she was "sitting tight".
Tauranga City Council's 2009 rating valuation for the site was $1.88 million - down from 2006's $3.58 million when the property market was buoyant.
While Mrs Hulme was feeling no pressure to sell, the slow-moving market for top-end properties has taken the sting out of efforts to sell or develop other large, high-value blocks around the city.
One is a prime 3000sq m waterfront property at the end of Fourth Ave overlooking the harbour and Matapihi. Graeme Lee, developer of The Lakes, is one of the principals of Gifford Apartments Ltd, which owns the site.
Directly across the road from that property is the 1900sq m site bought by retirement village operator Fraser Sanderson for $2 million about four years ago. He now wants to sell the property, which includes a boat shed.
Mr Sanderson is also selling the two waterfront properties on Kulim Ave closest to the entrance to Kulim Park. He paid $3 million for them about three years ago and is now taking offers.
However, that end of the market had slowed up so much that he had not received much interest," he said.
"If someone offered me close to what I paid, I would jump at it, but there will be no fire sale."
One of Tauranga's premier bare land commercial sites sits opposite Tauranga Hospital, spanning an entire block of Cameron Rd between 18th and 19th Aves.
The recession hit development plans for the 6483sq m site, forcing the developer to put the property on the market as a single block of land in 11 titles, with resource consent for a medically aligned use.
An 8000sq m site at Papamoa, originally bought by Shell for a service station, is also on the market. Potential uses for the property on the corner of Papamoa Beach Rd and Domain Rd include a combination of apartments and retail or apartments, offices and retail.
The largest beachfront property on the Mount-Papamoa coastal strip is waiting for another of those rare buyers willing to invest millions for the right property.
It is the 4866sq m Beazley family trust property at 65-69 Oceanbeach Rd.
Bayleys marketing agent Peter Clark said the family was "of a mind to sell" but it was not being actively promoted.
An original three-bedroom 1960s Beazley home sits on the site.
For sheer size, nothing beats the 40ha residential subdivision development property owned by Mangatawa-Papamoa Block.
The paddocks largely sit behind the company's 8ha joint-venture Pacific Coast retirement village at the Mount end of Papamoa Beach Rd.
Mangatawa-Papamoa Block chief executive Jonathan Rishworth said they were waiting for the market to improve, which he predicted could be several years away yet.