Mangawhai has become a haven for people seeking a coastal lifestyle.
Mangawhai has become a haven for people seeking a coastal lifestyle.
Residential land has potential for 55 sections and could be split into fewer, high-value lots, says estate agent.
A 7.8ha coastal section owned by descendants of one of the original settler families of Mangawhai is on the market for the first time in 125 years with a capital valuation of $3.1 million.
Moir Point, named after Johnny and Martha Moir, who farmed the property from the late 1890s,has sweeping views over the estuary, sand dunes and ocean at the popular holiday destination, north of Auckland.
In the 1800s, European settlers were drawn to the area to collect kauri gum, and the bush was gradually replaced by paddocks for cattle and sheep. Over the past 50 years, Mangawhai, with its natural harbour, estuary and white sandy beach, has become a haven for people seeking a coastal lifestyle.
Karen Messenger, the great grand-daughter of the original owners, is reluctantly selling the "slice of paradise", although family members are keeping a 0.8ha piece of the farmland. She remembers learning to swim in the estuary, gathering shellfish, kayaking, water skiing, climbing trees and hearing her grandmother refer to the flowering pohutukawa as Christmas trees. Mrs Messenger said the property was originally part of a larger parcel of land, which was farmed until the 1970s and then gardened commercially to supply pumpkins, watermelon and rock melon to supermarkets in Auckland until the mid-1980s. Since then it has been used to graze sheep and beef and has remained a summer camping retreat for the family.
The land is zoned residential with the potential to be subdivided with up to 55 sections, but Bayleys in the North director Mark Macky said potential buyers could split it into fewer, high-value lots.
"The Mangawhai property market is recovering very strongly and demand is high.
"Being under 90 minutes' drive from Auckland is a key factor, and with the Northern Gateway extension to Warkworth, it's getting even closer," Mr Macky said.
Mangawhai, with a permanent population of 1086 in the 2013 census, is recovering from a controversial wastewater scheme, which ended up costing ratepayers about $57 million.
Offers for the Moir section, for sale by tender through Bayleys Mangawhai, close on December 11.
Slice of paradise *7.8ha coastal section at Mangawhai *Capital valuation $3.1m *Been in the same family for 125 years *Zoned residential for up to 55 sections
