Ex Candylands a sweet buy

Candyland, at 75 Henry Rd, Taupiri, began life as a cheese making plant. Photo / Supplied

More than 3000 sq m of industrial buildings for sale in the Waikato town of Taupiri include a large former dairy factory cool store.

Located on about 1.8ha of land at 75 Henry Rd, the property started out as a cheese making plant before being repurposed into a candy making factory and expanded in the late 1980s.

In 1988 the facility was converted into a sweets factory, which — until its recent closure — operated as a popular Waikato tourist attraction.

Mike Swanson, who is marketing the vacant property with Bayleys Waikato colleague Alex ten Hove, says the vendor is the former owner of the Candyland business.

However, now retired and aged in his 80s, the vendor is ready to move on and well motivated to sell, says Swanson.

The property will go up for auction at 11am on August 30, unless sold earlier.

Swanson says it comprises an extensive range of buildings totalling just over 3700sq m, the key drawcard being about 1200sq m of pallet-racked cool stores and a large rapid cooler.

"The premises would suit a variety of uses including storage, logistics and trucking as well as food or pet food production, either utilising or leasing the cool storage separately. Based on comparative market rental figures, the potential income from leasing the cool storage alone could be in excess of $100,000 annually.

"Another key feature of the property is its location only 20 kms from Hamilton on the new expressway and within the all-important Golden Triangle between Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga. Smaller towns within the triangle are showing good growth because of their improved connectivity with these major cities and are benefiting from big businesses taking advantage of the much lower occupancy cost of business premises in these towns."

Alex ten Hove says the production area in the main building had a food related licence to produce a variety of consumable products which could be reactivated.

"The property comes with a treasure trove of machinery and workshop storage areas and has a large inventory of stock, plant and equipment including forklifts and engineering equipment.

"A large stock of confectionary production equipment is also part of the sale and includes mixers, chocolate plant with cooling tunnels and coating machines. Everything is being sold on as an 'as is basis'."

He says the substantial site provides extensive parking and hard stand areas with good truck access, as well as former staff and manager's accommodation on the right hand side of the property.

"While not currently used, if tidied up this area could have many applications."

Located alongside the Waikato River, Taupiri is situated in the middle of one of the country's largest dairy, beef and sheep farming and provides essential rural supplies and services. It has a population of around 400 people and the North Island main trunk rail line railway runs through the town, being used predominantly for transportation of goods from Auckland to Wellington and towns in between.

Almost 50 per cent of New Zealand's GDP is generated within the "Golden Triangle" which includes the country's two largest ports at Tauranga and Auckland.

They will link with the multi-billion dollar, 480ha inland port being developed at Ruakura, on the outskirts of Hamilton and close to Taupiri. It is expected to generate around 11,000 new jobs for the region and contribute $5 billion to the economy every year.

"Taupiri will also continue to benefit from the ongoing development of the Waikato Expressway which is on its doorstep," says Swanson.

"When complete, it will provide over 100 km of continuous highway, with a minimum of four lanes, running from the Bombay Hills in the north to just south of Cambridge."