Secret' Bay of Islands development goes on sale

The sections, selling for millions of dollars each, dot a 5.5km coastline. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Sections are being sold at an exclusive Bay of Islands development in one of New Zealand's top property projects.

Seventeen north-facing landscaped sites have been created at the 142ha Omarino and construction has started on two of the north-facing landscaped sites. Eight sites have been sold.

A large house by architect Pete Bossley has been built near the entrance to the property. Some sites are on hilltops but most are on or near the coast, many with their own private, secluded golden bay lined with pohutakawa, providing the buyers with isolation.

The project is off Manawaroa Rd on the 747ha rural property previously known as the Bentzen Farm on the mainland behind Russell facing towards Urupukapuka Island.

The sections, selling for millions of dollars each, dot a 5.5km coastline comprising Waipohutukawa Bay, Pareanui Bay, Parorenui Bay and Waipiro Bay.

Barry Gordon, Omarino's farm manager, said about one million trees had been planted, a network of walking tracks was formed and just over 16km of internal roading network had been laid.

Yet the project has had little promotion, a deliberate move by Craig Heatley - who fronted publicity. Heatley is a prominent New Zealand businessman and golfing enthusiast who brought Sky TV to New Zealand.

Heatley said the real work at Omarino lay beneath the roads. Steep hillsides were retained and stormwater utilities installed so the roads could be formed following old farm tracks, he said.

"Omarino has intentionally been given a low profile to protect its residents' privacy," he said.

New Zealand and American flags fly near the Gatehouse to the secure community but Heatley said there was room for 18 flags, indicating the amount of international interest being shown.

"This is not advertised. People find out about the land mainly through word-of-mouth," he said, contrasting it with other real estate projects in the Bay of Islands and saying it stood alone.

Gordon said high-level services would be offered to owners and he cited the example of a day's fishing.

"They call up and arrive to find their boat out of the shed and already in the water, the rods baited up, all the food and drink already aboard and chilled, ready to go," he said.

Heatley paid tribute to his late business partner, John Wrightson, who he said had the foresight, dedication and hard work to create the development. "Omarino is really testament to his efforts," he said.

Various schemes were discussed for the mainland farm, including a more intensive project, but he said creating just 17 sites put Omarino in a league of its own internationally.

The Herald was invited to see the project this month, leaving Auckland in a helicopter which took just over an hour before landing on the shores of Waipiro Bay near a new jetty, double-height boat sheds and a communal residential house, The Wool Shed, designed by Bossley. Gordon said that was built on the site of a distinctive old white wool shed and the new building had the same dimensions.

Its architecture, with exposed beams and timber floors, harked back to the old structure's form, shape and design.

The development's entranceway sports a rock wall with Omarino on the front and the developers worked with the highway authority to realign the road at the entrance to the property.