- A South Auckland church sold its McKenzie Road building for $6.3 million, above the $4.7m RV.
- Ray White auctioneer Sam Steele confirmed the sale, marking it as the highest auction price for the year.
- The church plans to use the funds to clear debt and purchase a smaller commercial site.
A South Auckland church has walked away with more than $6 million this week after selling off a building that had fallen foul of the council’s planning rules.
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The Māngere Bridge property, owned by the Samoan Congregational Christian Church of New Zealand Māngere Trust, had only been on the market for less than a day when the vendors accepted an offer of $6.3m from a developer, bringing forward a planned auction by two weeks.
A smattering of rival developers and investors turned up to bid at Ray White Manukau’s auction room this week, but were blown away by the pre-auction offer.
Ray White head auctioneer Sam Steele wasted no time bringing the hammer down on the McKenzie Road property, which had a CV of $4.7m. The sale price was one of the highest Ray White has achieved at auction this year.
Listing agents Charlie Brothers and Pat Lapalapa marketed the large 5419sqm land as having a variety of development options.
Brothers told OneRoof it was his understanding that the church building was unconsented, but he had encouraged buyers to do their own research. There was also a three-bedroom transportable dwelling or the church building on the site.
Ray White auction Sam Steele brings the hammer down and announces the property as sold. Photo / Supplied
The main building on the McKenzie Road site was unconsented. Photo / Supplied
The latest annual report for the Samoan Congregational Christian Church of New Zealand Mangere Trust published on the Charities Register revealed issues with some structures on the site.
The report said Auckland Council had ordered the removal of certain structures from the McKenzie Road site because they did not have the appropriate certifications.
The church’s plans to realise some of its real estate assets by selling off a segment of its land so the church could play off existing debt were also raised in the report.
Brothers said most of the buyers had not been worried about the certifications because they planned to develop the site.
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He believed the property was snapped up almost immediately because it was one of the last remaining sites next to the motorway linking Auckland Airport, Māngere Bridge, Onehunga and West Auckland, he said. “It’s virtually seconds away from State Highway 20.”
The agents sent out a text to their database when the listing went live on Thursday and received a lot of interest.
“It happened pretty quickly ... it was under contract straight away.”
“There’s a heap of developments in that area.”
Brothers said the church should be really happy with the result and they could now purchase a smaller commercial site to make its new home.
“It’s an impressive result considering where the market is at the moment.”
Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson said another drawcard for the large site was that it was unaffected by the recently introduced Watercare infrastructure constraints, which impacted when developments could be carried out on some properties. The new rules impacted pockets of Ōtara, Māngere, Papatoetoe and Clover Park in South Auckland and meant properties in those affected areas could not be developed for the next 10 to 15 years.
Rawson said properties sitting outside what was being dubbed the “red zones” were getting a lot more attention at auction than those that were inside it because they didn’t have the constraints and could still be developed.
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