Sharp potential for Wellsford saw site

Irwin Industrial Tools' complex includes a warehouse, factory and office space. Photo / Supplied

Irwin Industrial Tools, the biggest employer in Wellsford until it closed down its operations in December 2009, is now selling off its factory buildings and land just behind the township's main street, about 80km north of Auckland.

The US-owned company once employed about one tenth of the population of Wellsford but was forced to shut the doors to its 7660sq m factory complex on a 2ha site at 22 Hood St after it was hit by difficult trading conditions, a high and volatile New Zealand dollar and falls in the American building market.

Irwin manufactured tungsten-tipped circular saw blades at the factory and, at its peak, over 500 people worked there. The company supplied 40 per cent of the global saw blade market and operated plants in Taiwan, Canada and England.

CB Richard Ellis' North Shore office is marketing the Wellsford property for sale by private treaty closing on July 28.

Managing director John Bedford says the factory is the biggest available industrial property for sale between the North Shore and Whangarei.

"It is matchless in the immediate and greater vicinity and one of the best opportunities we have seen for a long time to buy a substantial property that has well over $1 million of existing infrastructure, can be utilised immediately or converted for myriad industrial and retail projects," he says.

The stand-alone building has 6880sq m of warehouse and factory space, a 250sq m ground floor and 530sq m of first floor office space. Although most of the tilt slab, high stud, open-span factory was constructed in various stages between 1990 and 2004, Bedford says it is in good condition.

Stud heights range from 5.5m in the older section of the building through to 6.5m to the portal knees rising to 10m in some areas.

Access to the factory is through roller and pedestrian doors. The main entry and exit is on the eastern side where a covered 100sq m area leads off the main truck bay. "On this side of the factory a machine room contains a full length heavy steel gantry with capacity of 3.2 tonnes," says Bedford.

"Most of the equipment used for manufacturing the saw blades has been removed, but the gantry crane, extensive three phase power system, coolant and air lines plus the office fit out are being left in place."

The ground floor administration centre contains the main entrance and features tiled flooring leading through to offices and a boardroom. A wide stairway leads to a foyer on the upper level and more offices in variable sizes. Bedford says they are carpeted and some have air-conditioning.

"The building sits well on the site, leaving room for ample carparking as well as looped access for trucks and external storage."

Under Rodney District Council's District Plan the property is zoned Industrial 2 allowing for a broad range of industrial, commercial and retail ventures. "It would be exceptional for manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, agricultural businesses and sawmilling," says Simon Farland, CBRE's North Shore associate director who is also marketing the property with broker Lyle Flood.

"The main economic sectors influencing demand for industrial property are manufacturing, wholesaling and transport," says Farland. "These sectors account for an estimated 70-85 per cent of all industrial building occupiers in the Auckland region.

"According to economists the goods producing sectors are leading the way out of recession and New Zealand is enjoying the benefits of record commodity prices. A gap has appeared in the dark clouds that have hung over the manufacturing sector for the past four years."

Farland says the big complex would also be suitable for a large format retail centre in an area that is popular with weekend visitors from Auckland.

CBRE's latest research shows retail is another area coming out of recession strongly, particularly in the Auckland region.

"While the Auckland region was the first of the major centres to have a dramatic fall in retail sales during the recession; it has been the first to recover," says the research team.

CBRE's historical comparison reveals the drop in sales was much deeper than during the late 1990's recession. Latest figures show a strong 6.2 per cent increase in sales in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same quarter last year.

CBRE's researchers say improved trading conditions and confidence should translate into sustained demand for retail premises during the rest of the year. "Our base scenario indicates sales increasing by $611 million this year, followed by a $998 million increase next year," says research director Zoltan Moricz.

Farland says the property is ripe for any number of uses and is easily accessed by two feeder roads off SH1.

"A new owner can step in and immediately start up business," he says. "The cost of occupancy will be far less than operating a business in Whangarei or the outskirts of Auckland and the property will probably sell for below replacement cost.

"Land and buildings in the area have been selling for between $520 per sq m and $650 per sq m. It would be impossible to build a factory of these proportions for that price.

"On top of the land cost, an owner-occupier or investor would have to pay $750 per sq m to build a factory/warehouse and $1200 per sq m for office space. This is likely to be the only chance to buy a substantial property in good condition that has broad zoning and lies half way between Auckland and Whangarei in the next couple of decades."

The property was originally 27ha when bought by Richard Izard, who started the tungsten coated saw blade business in the 1980s before selling to Irwin. In the late 1970s Izard met American Fred Gunzner, who made saw blades, and they registered Acu Edge in New Zealand.

With the help of export incentives from the Muldoon Government, Izard set up a small factory in Wellsford putting tips on the blades Gunzner supplied and shipped them back to the US.

By the mid-1980s he had bought the American out and in the late 1980s employed more than 100 people in three Northland saw blade factories. Izard sold the business a couple of years later to Irwin Industrial Tools of Wilmington, Ohio, a willing buyer.

The property was split up over the years and the bare land sold to an Auckland property investor and two buildings at the front to AB Equipment. Flood says Irwin's remaining 2ha property is one of the more strategically located sites in Northland, sitting immediately behind the main Wellsford shopping centre on SH1 and near the junction of SH1 and SH16.