The owners of 14ha of Wanganui's Westbourne Industrial Estate are preparing 15 industrial sections for sale or lease.
The estate is reached from Mill Rd, which runs off Mosston Rd. It is zoned for heavy industry, including manufacturing.
It was set up by Wanganui District Council in the late 1990s at some expense, in response to a perceived lack of industrial land in the city.
The council sold the 14ha which once held the NDG Pine timber mill to a consortium called AT Wanganui in 2009.
The consortium is now a group of five Wanganui and Rangitikei businessmen, and its chairman is John Turkington.
"We're quite excited about the whole thing. We are really trying to get things rolling," he said.
The timber mill buildings have been renovated and have become the national storage centre for Global Products, a company distributing goods like soap and toothpaste to supermarkets all over the country.
Mr Turkington said the company shut down distribution centres in Auckland and Christchurch to centralise in Wanganui - and other businesses might wish to make the same decision.
"Palmerston North has become a core spot for distribution. There's no reason why Wanganui can't be the same."
Roadrunner Markers Ltd was based in adjoining buildings, until that company moved to Taupo. The buildings were now available for lease.
Since acquiring the 14ha, AT Wanganui has contracted I D Loader to put in a new road extension and do some levelling.
The road has just been finished and with the addition of sewerage services has opened up 15 industrial sites for possible lease or sale. They vary in size from 1500 square metres to one hectare. Services include water, power, gas, stormwater and telephone as well as sewerage.
AT Wanganui spokesman Peter Robb said the sites were ideally suited for transport, because trucks could access them from the east and west via Mosston Rd, without driving through major residential areas.
And because the land was zoned for heavy industry and had no nearby houses there would be no issues with noise after hours.
The sites will be advertised nationally through a real estate company. One has just been sold to a national tenant who will be erecting a large new warehouse next year, Mr Robb said.
He would not name the company, but said it was involved in distribution.
Wanganui District Council had been a great help to the consortium by providing advice.
It has taken longer than the men had hoped to have the sections available. Mr Robb said the development work had been expensive, and the recession started at the wrong moment for them.
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Westbourne Industrial Estate had its beginning in the 1980s when 100ha of farmland on the rural western edge of Castlecliff was bought by Wanganui District Council and zoned for heavy industry.
The council was concerned at a perceived lack of industrial land for development, and then senior officer Murray Gilbertson was heavily involved.
For sale
or lease:
15 sitesP3John Turkington"There were big industries around looking for sites," Wanganui District Council property manager Rowan McGregor said.
Development began in 1996 with Mill Rd formed to link the land with Mosston Rd. To put in the road the council had to buy a parcel of land on the western side of Mosston Rd, all of which has since been sold as lifestyle blocks.
The road was built partly to entice John Crane's NDG Pine timber mill to Wanganui.
The council even found him some buildings unneeded at the Imlay meat works. They were moved and he used them for his mill.
Mr Crane's mill went into receivership when he lost his niche market in the United States. The business was then bought by a subsidiary of Allied Farmers, called Allied Pine - but Allied Pine eventually went into receivership too.
In 2007 the council sold 12ha of the industrial-zoned land to Westbourne Properties Ltd. The Chronicle understands the company is owned by members of the Brethren Church. "Their vision is to have a very visually appealing modern industrial park," Mr McGregor said.
The 14ha formerly owned by the timber mill was purchased by AT Wanganui Ltd in February 2009.
Mr McGregor was pleased AT Wanganui was continuing its development. "They have done well in a really tight economy. The mission of opening up Wanganui has been achieved. We wanted land zoned for the future with an industrial road into it, and now we have got full services as well."