Factory chance comes once in 60 years

The L-shaped factory and warehouse at 30-32 Carr Rd, Mt Roskill, includes a modern office, lunchroom and showroom. Photo / Supplied

Ray Selman looked for a factory for his engineering business 62 years ago and saw from his lounge window a site he eventually bought in Carr Rd, Mt Roskill - which was the only piece of land that wasn't under water when a nearby creek flooded.

The Selmans ended up owning 4ha and continued living in their house nearby. When their industrial building was constructed, Selman & Rowe occupied one of only three factories along the road.

At the time of the factory construction, Carr Rd was unsealed and the area was semi-rural. A dairy herd grazed along the river bank and there were few houses south of Mt Albert Rd. Ray's eldest son, John Selman, recalls a local market garden nearby and remembers the blasting from the local quarry in the early days. He said Carr Rd was eventually developed with proper sewage and stormwater drainage and flooding from the creek is long past.

The property at 30-32 Carr Rd is now up for sale for the first time in six decades and still houses Selman & Rowe, which was started in the family garage by Ray and George Rowe.

It is being marketed by Dave Stanley and Peta Laery of Bayleys Manukau with Chris Upright of Bayleys Auckland. The property will go under the hammer on September 21 as part of Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio auction.

The engineering firm, which today specialises in metal-pressing work among other things, will if required take a short lease back over their premises - which has been expanded and upgraded over the years - but otherwise it will be sold with vacant possession.

The property comprises 4277sq m of land on two titles and comes with the 2114sq m L-shaped factory and warehouse of mixed stud height plus modern office, lunchroom and showroom amenities. There is also a small three-bedroom villa on the property which has housed three generations of the Selman family.

The property has ample parking space around it.

Stanley says that with its extensive 41m road frontage on to Carr Rd and its high-profile exposure on to State Highway 20, the property lends itself to redevelopment into a commercial and industrial enclave.

"The area is still a popular business location and there is little vacant commercial or industrial space. It is experiencing substantial redevelopment and activity with a large Bunnings Warehouse opened up close by and the recently opened extension of SH20.

"Motorway access is just a few minutes' drive away and the area is well serviced with a range of amenities including cafes, shopping, sports facilities, schools, supermarkets and an educated local workforce."

The property is zoned Business 4, which gives a new owner a range of business options from industrial through to commercial and retail uses, with the correct consents in place.

"The property would be ideal for an owner-occupier who might want to use some of the space and rent the rest out," Laery says. "It's a big opportunity for a new owner to stamp their mark on a large site in a well-established growth area."

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