CBD motel site up for sale

The site of the Durham Motor Inn is up for sale in the CBD. Supplied photo.

A prominent and substantial city block of land in Tauranga's central business district has been placed on the market for sale – with the property cited as being ripe for a mixed-use redevelopment that could include retail, office, apartments or a hotel tower.

The property fronting Cameron Road and bordered by Harington Street, Durham Street and Hamilton Street sits directly opposite Tauranga Domain.

The site is currently home to the Durham Motor Inn Tauranga which has a management lease expiring in July this year. Additionally, the rectangular-shaped landholding contains a separate 148 square metre commercial building – previously occupied by a specialist recruitment and labour hire agency.

The 2755 square metre freehold property is zoned city centre under Tauranga City Council's district plan. The classification allows for any new building stock to be constructed up to 49 metres high above the Moturiki Datum.

The property is being marketed for sale by international tender through Bayleys Tauranga, with tenders closing on April 5. Bayleys Tauranga salespeople Brendon and Lynn Bradley say the location's city centre zoning allowed for numerous development opportunities, while the existing commercial premises would deliver holding income over any intervening period.

'Under the city centre planning configuration, there are the options of developing an apartment block purely for owner/occupier residency, the establishment of an apartment-style hotel tower with some owner/occupancy of units and others leased back to a hotel management pool, or for the construction of a conventional four-five-star hotel which could also include retail and office floor options in the designs,” says Brendon.

'The template for a leaseback unit entity already exists with the neighbouring Kingsview apartment block directly over the road on Durham Street - which features a mix of owner/occupier tenants and a number of units operated under the Quest on Durham hotel brand as serviced apartments.

'Tauranga's commercial property sector has been mooting city-fringe hotel sites for a number of years now, and the demand is still there for a nationally-branded four – five-star hotel operator to set up in Tauranga.

'It's also not beyond the realms of possibility that a retirement village operator could build a boutique central city high-end assisted-living retirement complex on the site given the popularity of Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty for retirees.

'Alternatively, from a residential dwelling perspective, the proposed Craigs Investment Tower redevelopment at 2 Devonport Road, and the Farmers redevelopment on the corner of Devonport Road and Elizabeth Street, which both include apartment living. So central-city living is definitely coming of age in Tauranga CBD.”

In addition, the now vacant commercial space on the corner of Hamilton Street and Cameron Road has also been generating an independent annual rental revenue stream, says Lynn.

'Tauranga City Council has been highly proactive in encouraging investment in the city centre, and now has a credible track record of working with building architects and developers to ensure that vibrancy is both planned for and brought to fruition.”

The site is within close proximity to the ‘Heart of the City' redevelopment programme which includes a new civic administration building and surrounding open space.

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