Westgate development site with scale sparks buyer interest

With the current shortage of available industrial-zoned land in the rapidly-evolving Westgate area slowing down much-needed industrial development with any scale, a generous parcel of freehold land within the Westgate Town Centre now on the market is fuelling buyer enquiry.

The 2.64-hectare landholding with Business – Light Industry zoning on the corner of Fred Taylor Drive and Kakano Road, adjacent to a traffic light-controlled intersection and close to the NorthWest Shopping Centre, has been in long-term private ownership with its owners living on the property.

It is to be sold with vacant possession by Deadline Private Treaty closing 4pm Thursday 16 September and is seriously for sale, according to Beterly Pan of Bayleys Commercial Central West team who is marketing the land with colleagues Mark Preston and Stuart Bode.

“Recognising the exponential growth and changing face of the Westgate precinct and the wider West Auckland area, our vendors have decided to sell their sizeable property and enable a new owner to unlock the potential that the site clearly has,” said Pan.

“The immediate area surrounding this property has changed beyond recognition since our clients purchased it in 2003.

“In the bigger West Auckland picture, the existing home and ancillary buildings on the property are not where the true value lies and clearly, the best and highest use for this pivotally-located site is to remove the existing structures and develop from scratch.”

Pan said aside from a parcel of land in nearby Northside Drive, which is around a third of the size of the Fred Taylor Drive offering and understood to now be under contract, there has been a real shortage of favourably-zoned development land come to the Westgate market in the past 18 months.

“There has been virtually nothing for sale in Westgate with any scale for a significant time and with a healthy demand for development sites, we are expecting this property to be in red hot demand,” she said.

“Westgate has come of age and this high-profile corner site at the heart of the action represents real opportunity for developers looking to leverage the area’s fundamentals that are underpinned by the presence of major national and international occupiers.

“Its position facing Fred Taylor Drive offers exceptional branding opportunities, further underscoring the value of the site,” she said.
Costco and Costco Fuel are set to open at Westgate next year, Microsoft has committed to a site for a major data centre in the precinct and the area has proven to be a large format retail magnet.

Other occupiers in the Fred Taylor Drive neighbourhood include Dulux, Resene, Mitre 10, PAK’nSAVE, Bunnings, Turners, Harvey Norman, and Briscoes.

The North West corridor is one of Auckland's strongest growth areas and is undergoing a $15 billion transformation encompassing public amenities, schools and major transport upgrades.

Occupier and investor demand shows no sign of abating, despite the fact that industrial development land is virtually exhausted in the area, said Bayleys’ Mark Preston.

“The manufacturing, production, logistics, storage, transport and distribution segments of the industrial market are growing and finding it increasingly difficult to find suitable premises,” he explained.

“Likewise, the business park development model has also proven extremely popular, with several innovative new industrial/commercial unit developments selling down quickly off the plans,” said Pan.

“Westgate’s evolution has been bolstered by infrastructure initiatives which have opened the area up to owner-occupiers, investors and tenants with the Western Ring Route providing a link between the north and south of the city, and allowing direct motorway access to and from Auckland Airport.”

The subject property in Fred Taylor Drive is adjacent to motorway egresses making the North Shore, the CBD, port and airport more easily accessible.

“Once developed, this site would create opportunity for businesses that have been thwarted in their property search elsewhere across the isthmus,” said Preston.

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