Chris Gardner The Hastings site being vacated by the Norwood Farm Machinery Centre in Karamu Road has been deemed too small as an alternative site to Nelson Park for a large format retail centre. The 3172sq m site, which is being marketed as having future bulk retail development potential, is far toosmall an alternative, according to Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule. "You couldn't even fit the current Warehouse store in, let alone any car parking," Mr Yule said. The council is preparing data on the proposed sale of Nelson Park to make way for a large format shopping centre which would include the Warehouse. Once the homework has been done the public will get to have the final say on whether the council sells the park and replaces it with a multi-purpose sports centre. The Norwood property currently contains several interconnecting buildings totalling 977sq m. CB Norwood Distributors Ltd, which owns the Karamu Road site which also has Ellison Street frontage, plans to relocate to an Omahu Road site in Hastings by July next year and is offering a short-term lease of from nine to 12 months. Rollo Vavasour, of Bayleys Hawke's Bay, who is marketing the property in conjunction with Scott Fitchett, said the property could appeal to an owner-occupier or developer. It has a number of existing buildings, including a 487sq m office and showroom building, a 302sq m workshop and warehouse and smaller storage buildings. There is also a substantial yard area. The property falls within a zone recently designated Large Format Retail by the Hastings District Council, a fact that increased its appeal to developers, Mr Vavasour said. "This is very likely to result in older industrial and commercial service properties being redeveloped for retail use which provides owners with a higher rental income." Neighbouring businesses include Toyota, Corys Electrical, the recently completed Mitre 10 Mega and Mastertrade. Tenders for the property, with a Capital Valuation of $850,000, will close on December 17.
