An Auckland clifftop site that was put on the market after plans for $40 million development were abandoned has sold for $9.5 million, OneRoof can reveal.
The 3237sqm property at 5 &9 The Rise, in St Heliers, had been owned by the same family for around 50 years. One of the sections had a multi-storey 1960s house, but the $10.65m value of the CV was largely in the land, zoned for urban density.
Listing agent Charles Benedict, from Barfoot & Thompson, said the site's elderly owners had partnered several years ago with a developer to create the upmarket block called The Rise. The developers began marketing the apartments off-the-plan through 2021 and 2022, and four of the 10 apartments were sold. One went for $3.75m and there was a contract on the penthouse for around $9m.
However, the owners withdrew from the joint venture project and eventually put their house and grounds, with the resource consents for the abandoned project, on the market in May last year with another agency.
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Benedict, who picked up the listing in January, said the house was one of the earliest built on The Rise and commanded 360-degree views from the Waitakere through to the Coromandel Ranges, across the Waitemata Harbour. “It’s quite an amazing piece of land,” he told OneRoof.
“At one point, it was one of only one or two homes there. There’s a big shed for the boat, they had horses and it was quite rural.”
The property at The Rise was marketed with resource consent for a 10 apartment-development which had been abandoned in 2022. Photo / Supplied
The property had 360-degree views across the Harbour and to the Coromandel and Waitakere Ranges. Photo / Supplied
Benedict told OneRoof he had a database of high-end homeowners and developers looking for land in the eastern bays.
He marketed the site both to individuals wanting to create their dream home, and “savvy developers to create executive townhouses with an unparalleled return on investment”.
“I have a deadline sale method, because that opens the market to people with conditions and people without," he said.
“Because of my network I had five offers, basically. The highest offer was not accepted, because it had conditions, so we took the unconditional one – a bird in the hand, at that price point. That’s a good price in this market, because the CV is $10.6m and most places are selling around 8% below.
“This is a good result for the vendors, they were pretty happy to go with it and now they can move on with their lives.”
Benedict said when the deal settled at the end of June, the new owners would rent out the property, while they finalised their plans, adding that the existing resource consent was valid for another two-and-a-half years. “A developer who buys now is clearly passionate and knows what they’re doing. He’s putting things in the pipeline because he knows in two or three years there’ll be a market for the finished houses.”
He was not sure what, if any, changes would be made to the earlier design.
The 3237sqm site had a 1960s home with a boatshed and pool that had been one of the original homes on the previously rural block. Photo / Supplied
The agent added that top developers have learned that buyers were reluctant to buy off-the-plan, even for high-end properties by well-known developers, so they needed to have enough liquidity to complete the build before they find the buyers.
He said right now he was working on off-market deals for four or five developers looking for land to start projects in the eastern suburbs, with some sections worth over $10m.
“They’re always looking for the most suitable, attractive land. These people are liquid, so they’re not subject to finance,” he said.
Developers have refined their products to meet the downsizing boomer market, who demand for completely private apartments, often only one per floor, as well as a lot of storage (“they get rid of stuff, but not enough,” he said) and garaging for up to four cars.
“The top-end developers are looking in the long-term. The property market, it’s a cycle, it’s a wheel. They see that they do the acquisition now, the market will be changed in two years," Benedict said.
“They may not start marketing until later in the build process. And while [rising] building costs are a factor, they are able to recoup that and the clients are prepared to pay for what they get provided. It’s good quality."
His buyers will take heart from the recent sales of two luxury boutique apartments in the area, both now move-in ready. The Bay on St Heliers Bay Road, another failed development taken over by luxury apartment experts Peter and Judy Jones, has sold five of its six apartments for a total of nearly $35m over the past 10 months.
The top price was $9.1m, with the sixth and final apartment being auctioned on April 10.
And in The Sonata, on Devore Road, just one of the five luxury apartments remains to be sold, after the ground floor apartment fetched $8.2m earlier this year. The top sales price was $10.2m for an apartment that sold at the beginning of the marketing, in late 2022 and the final apartment in the block is now asking $8.95m.
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