Four interested parties are in the process of gathering information to guide a purchasing decision on the Mid-City block in Tauranga.

The prospective buyers, two from Tauranga and one each from Hawkes Bay and Auckland, include a developer looking at the longer-term prospects of the central city site where the building height can match that of the Westpac building opposite.

A Mid-City sale is "weeks away" according to Ray White Tauranga commercial agent Denis McMahon. Photo: Google Maps.

'We are weeks away,” says Ray White Tauranga commercial agent Denis McMahon, when asked when the block will sell.

'It's quite a process to go through in terms of due diligence for anybody buying a commercial property of that size and scale.

'There's over 20 tenancies, so there's a lot of due diligence just on the leases if nothing else.

'One of the parties lining up is a developer and they have got to do a lot of ground work in terms of how they can make the thing stack up if it's going to be redeveloped.

'It's not an overnight process - that's all I can say. It's a pretty detailed process.”

He also added the block could sell as it is.

The mid-city block was built in 1985, which is relatively new compared with some of the central business district commercial properties. It has an A grade seismic rating, is well constructed and has good fit-out standards.

'It's a pretty good building, full stop, in terms of its presentation,” says Denis.

It could sell as is to a high nett investor who simply collects rent on the 20 tenancies, which include the book retailer Whitcoulls and AJ's Lotto in the Davies building further up Devonport Road.

The Davies building was built in the 1930s.

'Certainly its very dear to my heart,” adds Denis. 'We want a successful conclusion, not only to the sale but it's very dear to my heart that we also end up with something that's going to be good for the city centre going forward.

'It's one of those sites that's pretty key to the CBD, and we certainly want to make sure that whoever buys it is going to be doing the right things with it.”

Three interested parties have been looking at the 1797m2 block for a while and a fourth announced their interest today, he adds.