Lotto jackpot: What can $43 million buy you in Hawke’s Bay?

Saturday’s $38 million Lotto Powerball jackpot was not struck, meaning a mammoth $43m is now up for grabs this Wednesday.

Hawke’s Bay Today looks at some of the things you could afford with your winnings in the region, from libraries to orchards.

A Hawke’s Bay orchard

If you’re considering a foray into Hawke’s Bay’s thriving horticulture sector, a publicly revealed sale could serve as a valuable benchmark, offering insights into the potential costs of acquiring a stake in this lucrative industry.

Bostock Group, one of the country’s leading growers, recently announced it had sold 240ha of its orchards in Hawke’s Bay to rival apple grower Mr Apple NZ, owned by the Scales Corporation.

The sale was worth $47.5m and included Bostock’s 50 per cent share in Profruit, a premium juice supplier.

Bostock Group had a mix of owned and leased land across 240ha (114ha owned and 126ha leased), which will be transferred to Mr Apple.

“It’s always a good time to buy an orchard,” Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association president Brydon Nisbet said.

“The industry would welcome someone to come in and invest in growing fruit in the region.”

Multiple houses in Havelock North

According to OneRoof, the average median house price in the upmarket suburb of Havelock North over a five-year period is $930,000, just shy of one million dollars.

Currently, most houses on the market in the suburb range between $700,000 and $2m, with many luxury properties expected to sell for much more by negotiation.

It’s also generally a good time to buy in the Bay.

According to the latest real estate figures, house sale prices have dipped to a nine-month low in Hawke’s Bay despite a rise in the number of sales.

The median house sale price across Hawke’s Bay was $660,000 during April, from 192 house sales.

“First-home buyers, owner-occupiers looking to downsize, and investors were the most active buyer groups in the region in April,” REINZ chief executive Jen Baird said.

Napier’s new library?

Napier City Council set aside $15.8 million in 2019 for a new library after the old one was deemed unsafe and closed in June 2017.

In October 2023, it was revealed that Council approved concept designs for its new library and governance facilities.

It is now moving to build the new civic centre by 2027 with an estimated price tag of $58.2m.

Judging by these estimates, $43m will likely be more than enough to fund a new library space if it were a solo entity.

“We’ve now reached an exciting phase where we can get an idea of how the area could look in the future,” Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said at the time.

“I know this will eventually become a very special place for Napier residents. We’re envisaging a community gathering space that all Napier residents can have ownership of and call our own.”