Site well situated for apartments

A boarding house at 8 Nixon St, Newton, with the property for sale outlined by a red border.

A building used as a licensed boarding house for up to 32 residents situated on a commercially zoned site in the Newton city fringe precinct of Auckland is being sold by auction with the potential for redevelopment once its lease finally expires.

The property at 8 Nixon St, bordered by Newton Rd, Great North Rd and the State Highway 16 Northwestern Motorway, is being marketed for sale by Warwick Lewis, commercial broker with Barfoot & Thompson Commercial.

It will be auctioned at 10.30am on Wednesday, July 16, at the agency's auction room at 34 Shortland St unless it sells beforehand.

Leased to Frog and Leprechaun Ltd for a term of three years from February 1, 2013, the boarding house earns annual rent of $87,130 plus GST. Rights of renewal of two terms of three years each take the final lease expiry date through to January 31, 2022.

"The current tenant would consider selling its interest in the business to a developer to allow the site to be redeveloped earlier," Lewis says.

He says the freehold 688sq m site is well located for a future four-level apartment development with a Business 4 Mixed Use zoning in the Provisional Strategic Housing Area (Great North Rd) and is zoned Mixed Use under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.

Lewis says the property, with wide frontage facing west, lies within the recently announced Great North Rd Strategic Special Housing Area (SHA) "which definitely underpins its value".

The building was originally constructed some time between 1975 and the 1980s as a Lockwood two-level building totalling 330sq m and comprising basement, ground and first-floor areas of 306sq m along with decks and stairs of 24sq m. It is currently seismically rated at 61 per cent of New Building Standard (NBS).

The property, which has 13 uncovered car parks, is close to the Ponsonby Rd shops and to motorway on- and off-ramps. It is a short walk to Karangahape Rd where it is well served by bus services and is near to the proposed City Rail Link Karangahape Rd Station.

The boarding house of 14 bedrooms features a large communal kitchen, dining and lounge area with amenities including four toilets and four showers.

"This is a great investment opportunity providing an excellent income," Lewis says.

"In addition it has excellent future prospects in an ideal location for future redevelopment."