Prime Remuera land up for grabs: $12m landbank on market

The land up for grab in the Auckland suburb of Remuera. Photo / Supplied

Two sites combined could accommodate 30-60 new homes.

A chunk of land big enough for 30 to 60 homes, and valued at more than $12 million, is on the market.

The 1.54ha back-section site is on the southern side of Remuera, one of New Zealand's most affluent suburbs, but not in its poshest parts. The street-front neighbours have just received council valuations in the upper $800,000s for houses and properties a little larger than 700sq m.

For sale by property developer Roger Barry's Leisure Land Ltd, the site comprises two adjoining sections; the first has a four-bedroom house on it and has an area of 5827sq m.

Harcourts described the house as being of limited value and "in a poor state of repair".
The second is bare and is a much larger 9591sq m. Each section has its own separate street entrance.

Real estate agency NAI Harcourts is advertising the combined site as suitable for a variety of uses including a retirement village, terraced housing and intensive housing.

"It is envisaged that any purchaser will have plans that include the development of the entire site, making (the house on the land) irrelevant."

Last year's sale of the Remuera Motor Lodge motel and camping ground, a 1.2ha property which went for $7.9 million, was pitched as one of the last large development sites left in Remuera. NAI Harcourts agent Geoff Thorne said of the Abbotts Way site: "This may be the last."

He said that depending on the layout, possibly a maximum of 30 or 31 homes could be erected on the site under the current district plan, or 50 to 60 under the proposed Unitary Plan.

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Under both plans the maximum height for the site, currently zoned residential 6a, is 8m.
"The property did have a resource consent 12 to 14 years ago for a retirement village but it never went ahead," Mr Thorne said.

The consent had lapsed.

The site is beside the Remuera Gardens Retirement Village and Abbotts Park and is about 2km from the Stonefields housing development.

It is also situated close to Remuera Golf Course and a short drive to Newmarket.

Mr Thorne said four offers had been made since the site went on the market in August but none had succeeded.

One satisfied the vendor on price but came with conditions attached which meant it didn't proceed.

NAI Harcourts said the sale of the sections came at a time when demand for housing and senior living in Auckland was high.