Springboard to opportunity

The Property
• 3,005sqm landholding in popular lifestyle and tourism coastal location
• Sought-after Business-Light Industry zoning
• High stud warehouse with
• multiple offices across the ground floor and mezzanine
• Large yard and off-street parking
• Vacant possession

Quick Look
• National Total Property marketing campaign – by auction
• Enquiry generated via Bayleys’ databases and Total Property magazine
• Frenetic interest, prompting an acceptable pre-auction offer of $1,700,000
• Subsequently, the auction date was brought forward by three weeks
• SOLD for $2,460,000 to a local buyer

The Story

As one of just two light industry-zoned properties in popular coastal Snells Beach near Warkworth, and with the market actively seeking opportunity in this growth location, this offering was always destined to excite buyers.

The broader Warkworth area is set to benefit from the completion of the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway extension expected in late 2022, and agents Chris Blair and Henry Napier of Bayleys Millwater say the market “went nuts” when the property came on the market.

“Commercial and industrial property in Snells Beach is tightly-held and rarely makes it on the open market,” says Blair,

“With strong population growth in the Rodney district, investors and developers are circling looking for sites and this property offers a dynamic development, occupation, or investment opportunity.”

Blair says an auction campaign was deemed the optimal way to flush out interest in the market and to create competition for this rare site.

“The usual four-week auction campaign quickly became compressed into a feverish one-week process after the early pre-auction offer exceeded the vendors’ expectations,” he explains.

“Bringing the four other interested parties at that date together in the auction room, saw the property sell under the hammer for $2,460,000 – more than $700,000 higher than the initial pre-auction offer.

“Such is the demand for this sort of property, we could have sold it four times over if we had the stock.”

Vendor Comment

Managing director of Springboard Community Works Gary Diprose, says the long-established links the organisation has with Bayleys guided its pathway to a successful and game-changing sale.

Springboard is a not-for-profit organisation that has worked tirelessly for the past 19 years to enhance the lives of young people in the Rodney District.

In 2009, and with the professional help of Bayleys, Springboard acquired the Hamatana Road property as a base for its community-focused work.

Now, with a need to expand its operation further to provide an all-encompassing environment to allow the young people it works with to spread their wings, Springboard recently purchased the former Sheepworld tourism property near Warkworth.

“That transaction happened rapidly meaning there was in turn pressure on us to sell the Snells Beach property quite quickly to allow all the bits of the jigsaw to fall into place,” explains Diprose.

“We naturally went to Bayleys as we wanted to align our sales’ strategy with a company that believed in what Springboard does and one which has supported us tangibly for many years.”

Diprose says while the board initially thought a tender process would be the best way forward, it took Bayleys’ advice to embark on an auction campaign and the leap of faith paid off.

“The premium we achieved through the competitive and transparent auction process will allow us to do more than we could ever have imagined at our new property.

“We can now continue to give back to our community and improve the lives of young people through a blend of hands-on training and real life experience, operating from a truly fit-for-purpose property with exciting potential.”

Subscribe to receive the latest commercial news and insights from Bayleys Total Property