- Unispot purchased land in Newmarket for $20m, including four properties with a combined RV of $37m.
- The site, undeveloped for over 20 years, was previously linked to developer Donghua Liu.
- Unispot plans to build 89 units, aiming to complete stage one by March 2027.
A huge chunk of land next to one of New Zealand’s flashiest malls has sold for $20 million, OneRoof can reveal.
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The vacant block in Auckland’s Newmarket was snapped up by “cutting-edge property development company” Unispot in November.
The deal is for four separate properties, which have a combined RV of just $37m and a footprint of 9483sqm.
The properties are part of a block that has remained undeveloped for over 20 years, and, according to records seen by OneRoof, were owned by two companies linked to controversial property developer Donghua Liu.
An artist's impression of the townhouses Unispot is building at its Newmarket Quarter development at 11-15 Edgerley Avenue. Photo / Supplied
Unispot, which has been named one of New Zealand’s top 20 residential builders, has several large-scale townhouse developments in Auckland, including a 50-unit project at 11-15 Edgerley Avenue, next door to the properties it just bought.
Director Qi (Joe) Zhu told OneRoof that the company had just broken ground at its Newmarket Quarter project on Edgerley Avenue, and already had resource consent for another 89 units at its new site, which comprises 13-13a Alpers and 10-12 Edgerley avenues. He added it is a joint project with another experienced developer, Cero, and is managed by land development company Founders Group.
“Stage one will be finished by March 2027. Once we see how presales go we’ll be starting work on stage two,” he said. “We have full support from our bank, so we just need to time it for the market. This is a very favourable location, and there’s a lot of interest from the market.”
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The company, which has its own architecture practice, Ozac, and construction company, Reco, has just finished its biggest project, a 145-unit neighbourhood, The Glade, in Mount Wellington. The Newmarket project will be its second biggest, Zhu said. All of the properties will be in the prized double grammar school zone.
He told OneRoof that he knew the vendor of the Newmarket block and had, over the years, watched several attempts to develop the site fail.
“He [vendor] didn’t find the right solution for the whole site. We will have small- to mid-sized townhouses, two to four bedrooms, each with one parking. They’re not luxury, but they’re built to a high standard,” he said.
74 and 76 Gillies Avenue, next to Westfield Newmarket, in Auckland, are still on the market for sale. Photo / Supplied
Two neighbouring properties at 4 and 6 Edgerley Avenue have been withdrawn from market after failing to sell. They had been priced at $3m-$4m each. Photo / Supplied
“We’re positive about the market. We’ve already sold 10 of stage one, so we’ll just be observing the market [before launching] stage two.”
The vendor still has 74 and 76 Gillies Avenue up for grabs at the site, but Zhu told OneRoof that he was not interested because it included a heritage-protected house and trees that could not be touched.
Agents told OneRoof that the smaller pair of properties at 4 and 6 Alpers Avenue had been withdrawn from the market after failing to find a buyer for the $3m-$4m each the vendor was asking for.
The site was home to the Carlton Bowling Club for almost a century until it was sold to developer Roger Barry for $5m in 2001. It sold again for $25m in 2010 to Roncon Pacific Hotel Management Holdings Limited, a company linked to wealthy businessman Donghua Liu.
Property developer Donghua Liu is linked to two companies that sold the Newmarket sites. Photo / Greg Bowker
Liu opened a $3.5m refurbished Boulevard Hotel on the site alongside Sir John Key, then the Prime Minister, and the Construction Minister at the time (now city councillor) Maurice Williamson, ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Liu, who was at the heart of a political scandal that cost Williamson his job, had plans to rejuvenate the site with a 600-unit, five-star hotel, but his project stalled, and the land was left undeveloped.
The Arts & Crafts style home at 74 Gillies Avenue, formerly known as Hounslow, was first settled by botanist John Edgerley in 1843. The house was designed by Goldsbro’ of Fripp and Goldsbro’, who were the first architects to work in the Arts & Crafts style in New Zealand.
There had been some confusion around the sale of 13 and 13A Alpers Avenue and the larger site.
Stuff Media reported in May that 13 and 13A Alpers Avenue had sold on May 22, but details of the sale – including the buyer and the sale price – could not be revealed until settlement later in the year.
However, one of the agents with the listing told OneRoof last year that the properties had not sold despite media reports. He said there had been little interest in the properties since he listed them on September 5. “There is nothing to report here. No story.”
Residents around the Southern motorway flyover will at least have somewhere to eat. The New Zealand Herald reported in August that Auckland Council had granted approval for McDonald’s to develop a 24/7 Newmarket drive-through beneath the flyover at the Mahuru Street corner.
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