- Kāinga Ora may sell a Hamilton site valued at $8m, initially planned for social housing.
- The 1.9ha Flagstaff site could accommodate 60 homes, but the project has faced delays since 2019.
- Proceeds from any sale would be reinvested in housing or used to reduce Kāinga Ora’s debt.
An empty field in one of Hamilton’s most popular suburbs could fetch millions of dollars on the open market if the Government decides to shelve social housing plans for the site.
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Kāinga Ora, the state housing agency, told OneRoof that “divestment” was one of the options it was considering for the Flagstaff site, which has an RV of $8 million.
The agency planned to build around 60 social homes on 1.9ha of vacant Crown land at Endeavour Avenue, but the project has been beset by multiple delays since its announcement in 2019.
Gareth Stiven, Kāinga Ora’s general manager of strategy, finance and policy, told OneRoof the agency hoped to finalise its plans for some of its larger sites within the coming months.
Sites that were no longer needed would be listed and sold on the open market, he said, adding that proceeds would be reinvested in the agency’s housing stock or used to reduce debt.
Kāinga Ora’s proposed Flagstaff development was to be a mix of 60 social and private houses. Photo / Supplied
Property experts told OneRoof the Government could be sitting on a proverbial goldmine.
Earlier this year, Hamilton City Council sold a 8470sqm chunk of land opposite Korikori Park to developer Jones Lands Limited for $5.15m. The company plans to build 65 affordable homes on the site.
Council planning and guidance manager Grant Kettle said the Endeavour Avenue site was zoned general residential, which meant terraced apartments, duplexes and strata apartments up to 11m high could be built on it.
Kettle confirmed the current resource consent issued in August 2021 was for an integrated residential development of 60 houses, including nine single dwellings, 32 duplexes, and 19 units spread over five apartment buildings.
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The resource consent stayed with the land so the new owner could use the consent as is or apply to alter it by making a change application. The consent is valid until August 2026, but it is possible to apply for an extension.
Hamilton-based developer John Kenel, of Assured Property Investments, told OneRoof the land would attract a lot of interest if it hit the market. “At 1.9ha, depending on the zoning and services like stormwater and wastewater, you could probably get 50 to 70 homes,” he said.
He estimated the property was worth between $4m and $6m, depending on what had already been completed in terms of consenting and zoning. “If it’s got high-density zoning it could go for more,” he said.
Harcourts Hamilton business owner Campbell Scott said there was only a handful of local developers who had the knowledge and resources to take on such a large-scale project, and in some cases, they teamed up.
“The bigger the piece of land, the fewer parties there are who have an interest or have the means.”
Another vacant site earmarked for development is 42 and 44 Saulbrey Road, in Ngaruawahia. Photo / Supplied
The former Flagstaff Community Police Station, next door to Kāinga Ora’s vacant site, has sold. Photo / Supplied
He said smaller 400sqm to 500sqm sections in a new subdivision in Taupiri were selling in the early $300,000s and said it would be a fair assumption that ones in Hamilton would be worth more.
Scott had noticed a lift in privately held large landholdings coming up for sale in the Waikato in the last couple of months. This included 3.3ha on two titles at 42 and 44 Saulbrey Road, in Ngaruawahia. The site, which has potential to yield 64 sections ranging in size from 325sqm to 468sqm, is being sold by negotiation by Harcourts agent Stacey Levien.
“They are going through all the same questions right. What can I put on it, what’s the intensification, what’s best for the area? Do I build on it, if I sell it how much is it worth – it’s just all part of a complicated list of due diligence that the end buyer needs to consider.”
The former Flagstaff Community Police Station, which is next door to the Kāinga Ora-owned site, sold last week for an undisclosed sum. The commercially zoned land was on the market for the first time in almost 30 years, and listing agents had expected it to attract developers.
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