North Harbour car yard for add value

The large site at 9 Paul Matthews Rd has a residence partially converted for office use. Photo / Supplied

Though now used as a car yard, a site for sale at North Harbour is likely to suggest additional possibilities to investors and owner-occupiers.

That's the view of Bayleys agent Millie Liang who, with colleague Ranjan Unka, is selling the 315sq m two-level residence partially converted for office use.

The property, comprising 2336sq m of land at 9 Paul Matthews Rd, is featured in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio, and is being sold by deadline private treaty, closing at 5.30pm on Tuesday May 15, unless sold earlier.

Liang says it can be sold either with vacant possession or with a short-term lease back to the vendor's vehicle sales business.

The dwelling was the former sizeable home of the original landowner Paul Matthews, whom the road is named after, and has been used as serviced offices for many years with a flat on the lower level. It has four rooms, two lounges and a kitchen upstairs and two rooms plus a self-contained one bedroom flat with kitchen downstairs.

"Internally, the property provides character offices with polished floors, good natural light, a security system and ventilation," Liang says. "It offers opportunities for a wide range of occupiers with the potential to also accommodate a childcare business, restaurant, medical or other professional practices, another car sales yard or a variety of other activities, subject to obtaining the necessary consents. Alternatively, the building could be removed and the site could be redeveloped more intensively for commercial and/or light industrial use."

The building is centrally located on the rectangular shaped site which has about 30m of frontage to Paul Matthews Rd and a depth of close to 80m. The land surrounding the building has been tar sealed to provide parking for up to 75 cars and has been used by the car business occupiers for vehicle display.

"The site slopes gradually upwards towards the western boundary and the front of the site faces northwards," says Liang. "This means any redevelopment of the property could ensure a north-easterly aspect for its buildings."

Unka says there are very few remaining land development options on the North Shore. "There is no significant greenfield commercial and industrial land available for purchase so the next best option is brownfield sites which haven't been developed to full capacity and where surplus land is available to build on.

"This site falls into that category and should appeal to a variety of businesses looking for property to own and occupy on the Shore with the opportunity to add value and enjoy gains through redevelopment or expansion in the future.

"Alternatively, entrepreneurial investors or developers could capatilise on strong, unsatisfied tenant demand due to historically low vacancy rates in Albany and maximise the value of this property by developing it."

Liang says the property which is zoned Light Industry is strategically positioned on Paul Matthews Rd in a highly sought-after location which has a mix of commercial business activities plus a range of amenities including cafes, bars and restaurants, a pharmacy, childcare centre, VTNZ, and a travel agency which makes it an appealing place to work.

The Albany city centre is within five minutes' drive providing extensive amenities including the Westfield Shopping Mall and a major park-and-ride bus station.

"Paul Matthews Rd also provides easy access to Auckland's motorway network via its connection to the Upper Harbour Highway [SH18] and is set to benefit from the future Northern Corridor transport upgrade and the establishment of a new $70 million Rosedale bus station," she says.

Plans for the newest Northern busway station at the intersection Arrenway Drive and Rosebank Rd were officially announced in December 2017 and have gone through a period of public consultation on its design. Construction on the station in Arrenway Drive is due to start in the middle of 2019, with its opening scheduled for 2021.

The Rosedale station is part of NZTA's four-year Northern Corridor Improvements (NCI) project that includes a new motorway connection between SH1 and SH18, the extension of the Northern Busway to Albany and around 7kms of new shared walking and cycling paths and connections.