Wanaka farm on the market for $25 million

Corbridge is a 343ha cropping farm about five minutes drive from Wanaka.

One of New Zealand's most exclusive properties for sale is a big Wanaka farm going for $25 million.

That appears as the top-priced place on Sotheby's International Realty's website of New Zealand property listings.

Peter Marshall, a Wanaka-based businessman who was one of a group who founded Eftpos New Zealand in the early 1990s, said he is an owner of Corbridge, a 343ha cropping farm about five minutes drive from Wanaka.

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The land, bounded by the Clutha River, is owned Corbridge Estates Limited Partnership which Marshall said bought it about six years ago for $10 million to $11 million.

"It's the last of the absolutely magnificent pieces of land close to Wanaka. It's got beautiful undulations, it's not just flat. It would be a real shame to see it get chopped up into 10-acre blocks which would degrade the landscape," Marshall said.

"We spent three to four years obtaining the necessary consents for the development," he said.

"We've done a subdivision plan for 34 individual homes sites, the biggest being 2ha so it still leaves most of the property as arable land for recreational use."

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The agency - which started in Queenstown, opens in Kerikeri on Friday and soon on Waiheke Island - is marketing the farm which has breath-taking views of the Southern Alps. A Takapuna Sotheby's office is planned to open in November.

Marshall said the development at Corbridge would not diminish the dramatic landscape.

"When you put 34 houses across 850 acres, they'll just disappear. Then you've got a lake in the middle which is quite large as well," he said.

Marshall said the Eftpos business was sold to the ANZ in 2000.

Corbridge is now selling the land for the housing estates.

"Someone else now can take on the development of the housing. It's there to be done," Marshall said.

The farm is at 707 Wanaka-Luggate Highway.

Meanwhile, Bruce Whillans, managing director of Whillans Realty Group, said a number of Auckland CBD office buildings were for sale for about $30 million "and there's very strong demand for them".