Corner site has the right angle

The elevated corner site at 257 Ti Rakau Drive is occupied by eight tenants and identified by a red border. Photo / Supplied

A large under-used corner site on a busy East Tamaki arterial road is for sale with a special zoning under the new Auckland Unitary Plan increasing future development options.

The 8173sq m north-facing, elevated site at 257 Ti Rakau Drive, on the corner with Trugood Drive, is occupied by eight tenants who lease a variety of small buildings and large yards.

Featured in Bayleys' Total Property portfolio, the property is for sale by deadline private treaty closing on December 7 unless sold prior to that date. It is being marketed by John Bolton, Roy Rudolph and Katie Wu of Bayleys South Auckland.

"There is an acute shortage of prime development land such as this on Ti Rakau Drive, especially in a corner position, and it will become even scarcer in the future," says Bolton. "The vendor has owned this property for over 40 years."

Bolton says the underlying zoning is Business-Light Industry under the Unitary Plan but it has a "Built Environment Identified Growth Corridor" overlay. He says this applies to a limited number of significant road corridors such as Ti Rakau Drive or segments of these corridors.

"The overlay makes this site potentially suitable, with consent, for a wider range of commercial activities than under a Light Industry zoning. It opens up possibilities for retail development."

Rudolph says there has been a progressive conversion of property along Ti Rakau Drive from predominantly industrial to more commercial and retail orientated uses. "Occupants benefit from exposure to high traffic flows along Ti Rakau Drive, with an average daily traffic count of 34,000 vehicles, and its connection with Botany Town Centre."

Commercial occupants now include a Bunnings store, new Mercedes Benz and Hyundai showrooms, the Aussie Butcher and Fruit World with clusters of smaller retail units. The property for sale is also close to the Ti Rakau medical centre and business centre.

"The area is now a well-established low density retail zone complementing nearby Botany Town Centre shopping mall," says Rudolph.

The property for sale has just over 70m of frontage to Ti Rakau Drive with multiple access points from Ti Rakau Drive and Trugood Drive and is fully fenced along its eastern and southern boundaries.

The mainly sealed square site slopes gradually upwards from Ti Rakau Drive giving it plenty of profile to the high volume of traffic passing by, says Rudolph. Its eight tenants are producing net annual holding income of about $157,000 plus GST, with the two largest occupants being a second hand car sales yard and a truck hire company. All the leases have final expiry dates of between August 2022 and January 2023.