Big sawmill site could be chopped up

The former Carter Holt Harvey sawmill site in Totara St, Putaruru, offers a new owner multiple options. Photo / Supplied

In one of the largest industrial land holding sales to come up in New Zealand in recent years, Carter Holt Harvey has placed its former Putaruru sawmill site in the South Waikato on the market.

The 14.1595ha property at Totara St is now surplus to the company's requirements and Brendon Bradley and Duncan Dysart of Bayleys Tauranga and Blair Hutcheson, of Bayleys Waikato, have been appointed to market it.

It is being offered for sale with vacant possession by deadline private treaty, closing at 4pm on Monday May 3 unless sold earlier.

"The Putaruru site is in three titles and offers a new owner multiple options given that it's a huge industrial site with potential to subdivide," Bradley says. "It has a large selection of various covered industrial and administrative buildings totalling 16,490sq m plus lots of yard space and full security fencing.

"It is also well positioned in a central North Island location adjacent to State Highway One as well as a freight railway line which runs from Kinleith to the ports of Tauranga and Auckland."

The property's history dates back to the 1890s when Wellington entrepreneur Tudor Atkinson forged a deal with Tuwharetoa chief Hitiri te Paerata to establish a timber company to mill the native forests northwest of Taupo - providing employment to the local Maori in what was then one of New Zealand's most inaccessible regions.

The company Taupo Totara Timber Co, or TTT as it was commonly known, was one of the first large private companies to accept the challenge of harvesting some of the finest podocarp forests in the North Island. It had several mills in the region with its own railway running from Mokai to Putaruru to connect with the national rail.

A large mill was established on the Putaruru site and in the 1950s TTT successfully made the transition to milling radiata pine as a result of restrictions on the supply of native timber. A processing plant was added to the Totara St site and TTT became one of the largest milling companies in New Zealand.

In the 1970s it was taken over by NZ Forest Products and later by Carter Holt Harvey. Most of TTT's mills became absorbed into CHH's other large operations, with the Putaruru sawmill finally closing in December 2008 after more than a century in operation. Bradley says the sheer size of the property and its flexibility means it will be of interest to owner-occupiers, developers and investors.

He says it has the potential to be converted into an industrial park which could attract a number of business operations such as storage, transport, distribution manufacturing, horticulture, engineering and rural sector activities.

Putaruru is at the centre of the South Waikato dairying industry and it could well suit companies involved in collection and distribution in this sector.

"The same factors that made this a strategic location for TTT so many years ago still apply today," Bradley says. "It's an established centrally located industrial location with a stable and skilled labour force and it's within an hour by road to Hamilton, Tauranga or Rotorua and two hours to Auckland.

"With recent industrial land sales in the area being at very affordable prices by national standards and lower land, building and overhead costs in comparison with major centres, this site offers a large business the opportunity to relocate very economically. An owner occupier could look to utilise part of the site for their own requirements and lease out or subdivide the balance."

Dysart says the substantial building coverage over the site also offers numerous options for future use, relocation or demolition. The two administrative buildings provide general office and staff facilities and adjacent to these is a staff cafe facility.

The industrial buildings comprise a mixture of processing plants, chipper, boiler and kiln areas. Dysart says there are also numerous storage and drying sheds in good condition spread over the site, mostly with open sides or ends, as well as maintenance workshops which have a steam-clean area and mezzanine office facilities.

He says the site is predominantly flat overall with a rise at the southeastern end and security fencing and lighting surround the perimeters of the property. The substantial yard space is finished with a mix of chip seal, concrete and hard fill surfaces with unsealed areas previously used as log yards.

Decontamination work was undertaken at the site in 2001, in accordance with a Tonkin & Taylor remediation plan. Results from the validation sampling and compliance inspections indicate that the targeted contaminated materials have been satisfactorily removed from the site with a full report available to interested parties, says Dysart.

Hutcheson says the South Waikato provides a number of comparative advantages for businesses in the district and an Economic Development Group (EDG), which is part of South Waikato District Council, is responsible for ensuring the district retains and builds a healthy business community.

This involves assisting businesses dealings with council and ensuring there is right business training, support and resources available.

Hutcheson says the district council supports new and existing businesses and has a proven track record of facilitating consents for major developments, including completing resource consent for the Fonterra Lichfield Cheese Factory in 10 weeks, with the plant in production within 12 months.

"South Waikato District also has a large and versatile labour force with skills to meet the varied needs of industry.

"Because of the district's strengths in forestry, agriculture and engineering, the local workforce includes a substantial number of qualified and highly skilled professionals."