Tauranga commercial site sells for $6.25m under the hammer

A commercial site has sold for $6.25m after coming to the market for the first time in 40 years. Photo / John Borren

A large commercial site on the fringe of Tauranga's CBD has sold for $6.25 million after coming to the market for the first time in 40 years.

The high-profile block of land at 199/207/213 Cameron Rd was one of Bayleys Tauranga's biggest commercial sales under the hammer this year.

Head of the Bayleys Tauranga commercial team, Mark Walton, said about 70 to 80 people, including key developers, attended the auction on October 24.

"That demonstrates a strong interest in commercial property and development sites in Tauranga."

Walton said the sale was one of the company's biggest sales made this year, following the $8m sale of a motel site on Durham St in April.

Mark Walton said the Cameron Rd site was one of the biggest commercial sales under the hammer for Bayleys Tauranga. Photo / File

The Cameron Rd property consists of three adjoining land titles and is fully tenanted by a car dealership and Dive HQ.

Combined, the three sites total 2192sq m of freehold land zoned city centre under Tauranga City Council's spatial plan.

Walton said the site was in front of where a four-storey student living facility was planned on Selwyn St and had potential to be developed into a "multi-use" site with retail and apartments.

Tauranga commercial property valuer at Preston Rowe Paterson, Dylan Barrett, said the sale was a good demonstration of a vibrant CBD with the hype around the new University of Waikato campus and talk of student accommodation.

"We have seen in recent times a spike in the commercial market. I think that is a depiction of confidence in the CBD. It ticks all of the boxes in terms of its frontage on Cameron Rd."

Barrett said the square metre rate of the land was valued at $2725 per square metre.

Priority One projects manager Annie Hill said the Cameron Rd site was a prime piece of real estate, which was under-developed in terms of utilisation and return.

"It's great to see larger parcels of land like this change hands with the opportunity to create higher value developments which will add to the vibrancy of the CBD area," she said.

"The city centre is going through a very exciting transition at the moment, with around $350m in private and public sector developments planned over the next few years."

Hill said Tauranga was following an international trend towards a city centre transitioning from mostly retail to a more mixed-use area of residential accommodation, entertainment, education, events, sport, tourism, office-based work, professional and personal services, arts and cultural offerings, and recreation and fitness.

"Our city centre has a competitive advantage in terms of its compact nature, so even though the development is on the fringes, it is very accessible to the main CBD area and also to the main arterial routes."

The specs:
• $6.25m
• 199/207/213 Cameron Rd, Tauranga
• Land area: Collective 2192sq m (approximately) freehold sites held over three titles
• Tenancy: Two tenants returning a net of $190,715.84 (plus GST per annum)
• Zoning: Zoned 'City Centre'
• Opportunity: Ideal for mixed-use redevelopment