St Mary's lot a 'dress circle' site

Artist's impression of consented luxury seven unit apartment complex at 14-16 Shelly Beach Rd, St Mary's Bay.

Positioned high on the upper slopes of upmarket suburb of St Marys Bay a 1770 sq m freehold and north facing development is for sale with panoramic views of the Auckland city skyline, Waitemata Harbour and the harbour bridge.

The level lot at 14-16 Shelly Beach Rd is less than 2 km from the CBD and is being promoted as "a great opportunity for a purchaser to achieve their own vision for a dress-circle development site".

"It's also the ultimate city-fringe land bank," says Henry Thompson of Ray White Commercial who, with colleague Stuart Bode, is marketing it for sale by tender, closing at 4 pm on Thursday December 4 unless it sells earlier by negotiation.

Thompson says that in February this year a land use consent was granted for the development of a new, luxury, seven-unit apartment complex designed by award winning architects Crosson Clarke Carnachan.

"This approved scheme incorporates three levels of apartments, a central courtyard with on-grade car-parking, extensive landscaping with a semi-basement car-parking level below. In addition the vendor has also commissioned a significant level of advanced design documentation for the building consent, together with extensive marketing material which will provide a 'walk-up-start' for a potential development.

"The sale of this site offers a rare opportunity for a developer to take advantage of the planning and design work already in place."

The property is currently zoned Residential 7A and Residential 7B.

"The 7A zone is one of the highest density residential zones available on the Auckland Isthmus outside of the CBD," says Bode.

"Under the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan, 14-16 Shelly Beach Road will retain its high density residential use by falling under the new Terraced Housing & Apartments zone."

Bode says St Marys Bay is regarded as one of Auckland's most exclusive residential suburbs, with average house prices consistently ranking it among New Zealand's most affluent neighbourhoods.

"Controlled by strict heritage planning guidelines, there are only a handful of sites within St Marys Bay which offer the potential for high density housing and future residential infill," he says. "Surrounded by a mix of standalone character homes, high-end apartments and luxury townhouses, the property has an elevated position with over 36 metres of frontage to Shell Beach Rd.

"It is only a 10-minute stroll from Ponsonby and Jervois Road with their many restaurant, retail and entertainment establishments."