Golden opportunity to cover the waterfront

Some of the facilities are tenanted, but there are also development opportunities.

A big Whangarei waterfront industrial property that includes an 800-tonne slipway, a floating pontoon and two large boat-building and refitting facilities, is up for sale and is likely to appeal to a marine industry buyer.

The 4.38ha freehold site, 3km southeast of central Whangarei, is being marketed by Tim Lichtenstein and Peter Herdson of Colliers International who are selling it by tender, closing at 4pm on Thursday November 8.

Lichtenstein says the property is partially occupied and so is creating holding income, and gives an opportunity to add value through redevelopment and lease management.

"This is an excellent chance to invest in a large industrial land holding, on the riverfront and close to the Whangarei CBD," he says.

"The size, zoning and layout of the site offer significant future opportunities to owner occupiers, investors or developers."

Herdson says the most significant buildings on the heavy industrial-zoned site are a large, double-height construction building and a humidity-controlled refit shed.

These facilities, with the large-capacity slipway and the waterfront location, make the property ideal for marine industry-related occupiers..

"This property offers the opportunity to set up a large vessel service and refit facility or a boatbuilding yard, restoring the facility to its full potential, creating jobs and eventually boosting industrial activity in the local economy," Herdson says.

"The existing buildings are well set up for several trades to work on vessels at a time, and could accommodate working boats such as ferries and trawlers as well as large leisure yachts."

Workshop and office buildings make up a floor area of 12,868 sq m. Some of this space is leased to predominantly marine industry-related tenants on medium-term and casual leases.

Recent dredging enables boats with a draught of up to 4.2m to use the slipway, which can haul out large vessels of up to 800 tonnes. Additional vacant land provides space for possible further development.

The largest building is Shed A, a seven-bay boat construction building 105m long by 35m deep which is parallel to the slipway.

It provides 6171 sq m of floor area across a substantial, high stud open workshop and a three storey mezzanine, partitioned for offices and workshops.

Shed B adjoins the western end of Shed A and provides 1400 sq m of floor area. It has a stud height of 8.3m and contains a five-tonne gantry crane.

The humidity-controlled refit/boat building facility, known as The Dome, has a 17m stud and is believed to be one of the largest refit sheds in New Zealand.

The 1854 sq m building was originally built as a floating structure and was moved on to the end of the slipway in 1999.

The building is in excellent condition and also contains smaller workshop, office and storage areas.

The controlled humidity makes it ideal for boat painting.

Six other buildings provide office, workshop and amenities spaces ranging from 320 sq m to 820sq m in size.

Lichtenstein says accessibility is one of the property's best features.

"The site benefits from transport access via both Fraser St and Port Rd, which is the main arterial road link between the port and the Whangarei CBD."

State Highway 1 is about 5km to the east of the property giving easy access to the main route to Auckland.

The property is in an established industrial area, among surrounding properties which include ship repair and boat building.

There are also fertiliser works, concrete plants, asphalt batching activities and various other light to medium industrial activities.