A huge 28.5 hectare parcel of land in the South Auckland industrial precinct of Wiri has been placed on the market through joint agents Savills and CBRE.
The land, on two titles at 100 Prices Road and 69 McLaughlins Road, is the largest undeveloped parcel of industrial-zoned land to be offered on the open market in Auckland in several years. It is being marketed by Paddy Callesen of Savills and Bruce Catley of CBRE by deadline private treaty closing on Thursday February 18 at 6pm.
The land will be highly sought after in a market which is desperate for industrial-zoned development sites, says Callesen.
“This is undoubtedly one of the most significant, and largest, undeveloped industrial land holdings left in South Auckland. It will be viewed as highly strategic in the current supply-starved market, where occupiers and investors are scrambling to secure industrial land which is now extremely hard to come by.”
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Catley says the strategic nature of the site is further enhanced by its scale, which gives the purchaser several options for the future.
“This land holding is a rare opportunity for the large development funds to secure a significantly-sized parcel of greenfields land in one of Auckland’s most sought after industrial precincts. The location close to State Highway 20, Wiri Inland Port and of course Auckland Airport makes it ideal for the many industrial occupiers currently looking for premises in South Auckland.”
Keen competition for the titles is expected, says Callesen. “Along with the prominent local industrial property developers, we also anticipate interest from owner occupiers and private investors who may be looking to secure a large and strategic interest in this key area, with likely future value growth in mind.”
The two titles, which total 28.46ha, comprise a heavy industrial-zoned 2.57ha title at 69 McLaughlins Road and a larger, light industrial-zoned site of 25.89ha at 100 Prices Road.
As part of the current owner’s plans for the site, council consents have been granted for key infrastructure including roading, bridging and services. Completion of the consented on-site roading will provide the sites with excellent access to road transit links and the airport.
The existing consents streamline the process for buyers looking to develop the land in the near future, says Catley.
“A concept masterplan is available to interested buyers illustrating a proposed road and bridge connecting McLaughlins Road to Prices Road. This would unlock the Prices Road extension, which is currently a dead end, and tie into the wider roading network in the area, supplying an alternative route to the airport for Wiri property occupiers.”
The current owner originally purchased 100 Prices Road as a rural zoned block of land with the potential for rezoning. This was followed later by the strategic purchase of the neighbouring site at 69 McLaughlins Road, which provided access for Prices Road to connect to the existing Wiri industrial development along McLaughlins Road.
The owner then embarked on a private plan change application for rezoning 100 Prices Road, along with two other major adjoining land owners making up the Southern Gateway Consortium, in an application to Auckland Council to rezone a larger 150ha block.
The Southern Gateway land parcel was eventually incorporated into the Unitary Plan as industrial zoned land and the area is now regarded as the logical site for Auckland’s next significant industrial estate. Considerable work has been undertaken by the land owners to facilitate the development of the wider precinct in terms of planning, infrastructure, roading and servicing, says Callesen.
“The current owner had always intended to achieve rezoning of the land. With light industrial zoning achieved and infrastructure plans significantly progressed, this is an opportune time to release this key site to the market for development at a critical time for the Auckland industrial sector, where land availability and vacancy rates are at all-time lows.”
Demand for Wiri and the Airport Corridor precincts has remained strong throughout the last five years, with vacancies being met by strong net absorption, according to CBRE Research.
Industrial land take-up in the Wiri and Airport precincts has contributed to the sector being the fastest growing in New Zealand. 1,275,607sq m of industrial land take-up was recorded by CBRE Research in these two precincts between 2015 and 2020 – equivalent to 39% of total industrial land take-up throughout Auckland, says Catley.
“Market statistics show that Wiri and the airport are the epicentre of the action when it comes to industrial occupier and investor activity. Key sectors including freight, logistics and food grade warehousing have taken off since Covid, with increasing pressure on supply chain capacity for businesses operating in these sectors and many others,” he says.
“With these forces driving the industrial property market as occupiers seek land to build new facilities, the Wiri and airport precincts are becoming cemented as ideally located areas in greater Auckland when it comes to access to transit options – and buyers are voting with their feet and snapping up property very quickly as it comes to market.”
The sites benefit from direct access to Puhinui Road (State Highway 20B) via Prices Road and a soon to be developed Campana Road extension. Puhinui Road is one of the two primary road access routes into Auckland Airport and is due to receive a substantial upgrade by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.
The properties also provide ready access to State Highway 20 for destinations to the west, north and south of the Auckland region, Callesen says.
“The existing transport links to the sites will be significantly improved when the consented roading is completed as well as the upgrade to Puhinui Road. This will result in even stronger demand from occupiers for premises in the Wiri/Airport and Southern Gateway precincts.”
