Suburban new-build mixed-use units for sale

The Depot is a 29-unit development under construction at 188 Centreway Rd, Orewa. Photo / Supplied

The continuing northern expansion of Auckland's metropolitan boundary has underpinned the development of units for sale in a new mixed-use commercial hub.

The Depot is a 29-unit development under construction at 188 Centreway Rd, Orewa. It sits on the fringe of Orewa's central business district and on land zoned commercial 8E.

The two-storey concrete and masonry brick office and residential units range in size from 150sq m to 217sq m.

Each freehold unit comes with at least two staff and customer parking spaces, while some of the units have private garden space. Upstairs, the apartments vary between two and three-bedroom configurations with open plan dining and living areas.

Deck sizes also vary between the units.

Five units have sold already. The remaining 24 are being marketed for sale for $950,000 plus GST, if applicable, through Bayleys Orewa. The property features in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine.

Bayleys Orewa salespeople Dylan Turner and April Zhou said the freehold unit-titled office and dwelling workspaces were suitable for either small business owner/occupiers or investors.

Turner said that for owner/occupiers buying early, there was also the potential for some of the adjoining units to have inter-connecting access installed during construction.

"Under this dynamic, the floorplate configurations could see two smaller units combined together to deliver a bigger premises — both for the commercial use on the ground floor and the residential component above," he said.

Turner said the design and location would suit small office and professional services-based businesses.

"The units are being sold off-plan as 'bare' ground-level floorplates with a single bathroom and kitchenette amenity in one corner, enabling any new owner to further configure office or meeting room space to their individual requirements in advance of occupation," he said.

Turner said the dual configurations of workspace downstairs, living space upstairs reflected the evolving trend of what was once known as 'working from home'.

"It's impractical to have employees working in the lounge of the family home, so a split-level office and home design delivers the solution of having two totally separate spaces for each activity," he said.

"The units are also effectively future-proofed too, to underpin the growth of tenant businesses. For example, a company may begin by occupying just the lower floor of a Depot unit with, say, six staff, but over time could effectively double or triple its employee complement by expanding into the first floor and reformatting the lounge and bedroom spaces specifically into commercial use.

"Under this business model, the kitchen and lounge could become a communal staffroom, along with the bathroom facilities required to adequately service more staff."

Turner said that while there were many 'work from home' enterprises in and around Orewa, The Depot was the first mixed-use development on this scale built around a hub environment.

"From a split-risk investment perspective, the units can be easily separated into a two-tenancy layout, each serviced by their own ground floor entry doors, with entry to the ground level commercial space coming via one door, and a second door leading to the upstairs stairwell of the apartment above."

The Depot will be run through a body corporate structure with estimated annual levies ranging from about $1521 to $2207.

Turner said units could be secured with a $20,000 deposit, with the balance of 10 per cent of the purchase price payable on issue of resource consent.