Perfect for breaks in premier surfing town

The property is close to Raglan's centre and access over the estuary. Photo / Supplied

Occupying a prime site at the entrance to one of Raglan's inner harbour arms a small shorefront motel complex and historic cottage on a perpetual lease, are being sold by tender closing on November 12 at Colliers' Tauranga office.

The 1 Bow St property, at the end of the Wallis St and Bow St point, is on a 1113sq m site adjoining the waterfront esplanade at the western end of Raglan's commercial and entertainment heart. Bow St is an extension of the main street into Raglan from Hamilton.

Raglan is a 45-minute drive west of Hamilton and two hours south of Auckland and is famous as one of New Zealand's best surfing areas.

For sale as a result of a partnership dispute, the property is being sold on the instructions of the first mortgagee and is being marketed by Mark Brunton of Colliers International in Hamilton and Grant White from Colliers' Tauranga office.

"This is Raglan's premier address," says Brunton. "Nothing can be built in front of the site to obscure the inner harbour and views of the Tasman Sea because the property occupies the closest site to the water. It is also only 75m from the Raglan Hotel and the many cafes on Bow St.

"The property is also around 100m from the walking bridge across the estuary to the Kopua-Putoetoe Point recreation reserve at the end of Marine Parade. Having access to the harbour esplanade, it offers easy access to one of the town's main green spaces," Brunton says.

The property has two main components _ an historic 19th-century cottage and seven self-contained motel units.

White says the cottage has a total floor area of 109.75sq m over two levels and was once known as Amoores Cottage. It was one of 10 pre-fabricated cottages shipped in 1874 by Sir Julius Vogel's government from Auckland to Raglan to house new settlers.

"They were among New Zealand's first transportable homes and were built of kauri and fitted together with brass screws," White says.

In 1877 Waitetuna School purchased the cottage for 34 and used it for a teacher's residence.

"Sometime after the turn of the century, Peter Middlemiss, one of Raglan's two blacksmiths, acquired the cottage, moved it to its present site on the waterfront at the foot of Bow St and later sold it to the Amoore family."

The cottage has been in its present ownership since 2003.

While leasehold, the land on which it sits is leased from the Waikato District Council and has perpetual seven-year renewals. A two-level building containing seven one-bedroom units was added to the property in 2006, with a view to creating a motel business.

"Although everything is in place with all the right permissions and certifications, the business is yet to be fully established but has traded under the name of One Bow Street up until now," White says. He believes the business could sustain a gross annual income of $200,000 excluding GST.

The total floor area of the motel complex is 539.12sq m over two floors, with 272.49sq m of space upstairs and 266.63sq m on the ground floor. The units are accessed through a ground floor lobby and are of similar design.

Each contains a kitchen, dining room and lounge area on the ground floor, a semi-private ground floor terrace opening on to a raised common terrace, and a double bedroom with elevated harbour views on the first floor with en-suite bathroom facilities.

Brunton says the property offers a range of options to a buyer.

"It could be either a business opportunity or a home and income opportunity. The buyer could run the business or live in the house and subcontract the management of the motel.

"Commercial areas of Raglan are very tightly held and this one is within reach of someone selling a house in Auckland or Wellington and coming to Raglan to start a new home life with a business."