Medium density at New Lynn

By Bob Dey

Two apartment blocks, one of them six storeys high, are planned for first-stage development on a block of former Crown Lynn land which was unsuccessfully placed on the market last year by the developer.

The City Wise Group put 1.25ha on the market last July as it tried to reduce its land bank in quiet times, but director Symon Peters said then if a buyer was not found he was keen to proceed with a medium-density residential scheme.

That is now being brought to the market through Martin Dunn of City Sales, an agent keen on redevelopment of former industrial sites and property along arterial routes, in keeping with the main theme of Auckland's regional growth forum, which wants to control the region's urban sprawl.

The site off the new Crown Lynn Place is surrounded by old warehousing, an industrial yard and some new commercial development, with the Building Depot as a neighbour, a Village 8 multiplex nearby and the LynnMall shopping centre across the railway line.

Designs were drawn last year for two apartment blocks or a combination of living-working units and apartment blocks and a commercial option was also considered.

In the $14 million first-stage scheme about to be launched, the smaller three-storey Piha block has 12 one-bedroom units, all of about 39 sq m and priced between $135,000 and $145,000.

The large Muriwai block has 93 units, including a number of studios priced between $75,000 and $95,000, with the highest price tag $195,000 on a top-floor two-bedroom unit. Buyers are being offered 90 per cent funding during the launch period for two years at 8.9 per cent.

Dunn expects a high proportion of owner-occupiers for the 105 units in the Crown Lynn Condominiums rather than investors. "I'm hoping to sell to people who work nearby, older people from the New Lynn area and young people getting started."

That aim for a cross-section is in contrast to the Westward Ho tavern redevelopment, where the target market was singles. Barfoot & Thompson was successful there, selling 43 of the 63 units in the first 10 days.

"These will almost all sell to locals who want a more active lifestyle than a house with gardens. Investors are still thin on the ground, so our marketing is aimed only at owner-occupiers."

Either way, Dunn sees the development as an investment opportunity, with the potential to borrow at about 7 per cent. With full gearing on the $75,000 studios, rent of $100 a week would be needed to cover the debt "and studios are currently renting for more than that."