Horowhenua land with approved development consents

The Property
- 1.1 hectares of flat, cleared land at the Lake Horowhenua end of Queen Street, Levin
- Council-owned Kowhai Reserve is on one boundary and a residential development on the other
- Consents in place for a 35 unit-titled lifestyle village including community centre, plus an internal roading network
- Projected population growth and strong demand for housing in the Horowhenua region underpinned the desirability of this consented land

Quick Look
- National Total Property marketing campaign with tender sale method
- Media coverage generated by the Bayleys’ PR team
- 46 direct enquiries from around the country
- SOLD by tender for $805,000
- Purchased by a national-brand building company operating in the wider regional territory

The Story

A 1.1 hectare site in Levin with concept plans and consents in place for a 35 unit-titled lifestyle village struck a chord with developers and building companies when it came to the market at the end of 2019.

Stephen Lange of Bayleys Wellington said the owner of the land had spent a couple of years doing the administrative “hard yards” getting the consent process sorted out, but decided to hand the baton on to a proactive developer to complete the project.

“Arguably the best and highest use for this residentially-zoned block of land – adjacent to another residential development and adjoining a peaceful reserve area – is for an integrated residential development,” explains Stephen.

“There’s been a notable northwards population drift out of Wellington and the Horowhenua region has a higher-than national average demographic profile.

“A new owner could either build and sell down the unit-titled units or hold them under a Licence to Occupy ownership model for long-term revenue and tax advantages.”

Stephen says enquiry came from all around New Zealand from building companies, developers and established retirement village accommodation providers.

“The appeal of the land was very definitely enhanced by the fact that the Council consent processes had already been covered by the vendor which streamlined the development phase for a new owner.

“While hard to quantify a potential sales price band prior to marketing the land because of the uniqueness of the offering, the market ultimately determined the value through the tender process and we feel it was a good result.”

Vendor Comment

Vendor Keith Robbins says Bayleys’ proactive and broad-reaching search for buyers really paid off.

The Queen Street land was purchased in 2016 with a desire to offer a different retirement village product to the market.

“We did our research and found that the demand for retirement units was – and still is – outstripping supply in Levin,” explains Keith.

“There are waiting lists at all of the existing retirement villages and we also believed there was the opportunity to offer unit-titled retirement living units to the market rather than the usual Licence to Occupy model.

“The location of the land right next to woodland and the dog park makes it ideal for an integrated residential development to cater for the aging demographic in the Horowhenua region.”

The hard yards were done by Keith to get the necessary consents in place for the integrated lifestyle village, however he decided to pass the development of the land on to a new owner to pursue.

Keith says he invited several real estate agents to submit proposals for the marketing of the land, however it was Stephen’s approach that won out.

“Stephen demonstrated a strong understanding of the local market and of the potential purchasers that the sales’ campaign should be targeting,” he says.

“We were very satisfied with the service he provided in actively seeking out possible buyers and generating demand for the property.”

“His weekly written reporting and our weekly face-to-face meeting enabled us to work together to maximise the opportunity.”

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