A substantial block of rural land with magnificent views over the outer reaches of Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf – and the potential to be converted into either a lifestyle block residential enclave or a health spa and eco-resort – has been placed on the market for sale.
The 47.44-hectare block of land at 865 Hibiscus Coast Highway situated between Hatfields Beach and Waiwera on Auckland’s northern metropolitan urban boundary contains a mix of hill pasture interspersed with an equal portion of native bush plantings featuring mature kauri and totara glades.
After being farmed by its current owners for some 40 years, the property is now being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Auckland, with tenders closing on May 13. Salesperson John Greenwood said the freehold farmland had future development opportunities along two very different lines – one with a residential focus, and the other with a commercial accommodation and eco tourism element.
Greenwood said that residential development precedents had already been established at nearby rural landholdings on the boarder of 865 Hibiscus Coast Highway – located just a few hundred metres from the beautiful Hatfields Beach.
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To the south of the property a subdivision application was successful for a 183-hectare lifestyle development block, with consent granted for 58 lifestyle lots spread over nine distinct clusters – with the overall density of the development achieving an average of one rural lifestyle site per approximately three hectares.
Meanwhile, to the north on the ridge there is a completed development of 11 lots on 11.3 hectares. And there is further development consent being applied for on the immediately adjacent land for another five large lifestyle blocks, plus a pending application to develop the remaining land.
Greenwood said that while the owners of 865 Hibiscus Coast Highway were clearly buoyed by the multitude of subdivision work being undertaken in their immediate locale, they had not yet applied for subdivision consent for their block – instead preferring to leave the opportunity over to the next owner.
‘With no formal subdivision plans in place for 865 Hibiscus Coast Highway, the land offers residential land developers a ‘blank canvas’ to work with – enabling a broad configuration of section sizes, density, vistas, and site topography,” he said.
“The rolling contour of the block means there is a landscape of building sites – with vistas ranging from the outer reaches of the Hauraki Gulf, Kawau Island, Great Barrier Island, down to Hatfields Beach Gulley, through to views of the bush-clad inland hillsides.”
The property for sale at 865 Hibiscus Coast Highway is zoned Rural – Coastal. It sits immediately beside the Hatfields Precinct registered on Auckland Council’s plan and characterised by a mix of marginal pastoral farmland and large blocks of native bush interspersed with a series of ridgelines and gullies.
The purpose of the Hatfields Precinct is to enable a comprehensively master-planned rural lifestyle development within a natural bush setting, while protecting and enhancing the nature conservation and landscape values of the land within its boundaries. The precinct will also see the creation of an off-road walking trail linking Hatfields Beach with Waiwera.
Greenwood said the strategic positioning of 865 Hibiscus Coast Road bordering the environmentally-focused Hatfields Precinct also opened up the potential for establishing an eco spa lodge-style accommodation venue. The property’s location just a few hundred metres from pristine Hatfields Beach also enhanced its value and nature appeal.
“Core to this would also be a pair of water bores on the property which have previously been used to draw pure water from the Waiwera aquifer which ran through to the nearby famous Waiwera Hot Pools,” said Greenwood.
Most recently branded as Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort before it closed several years ago, the complex was New Zealand’s largest water theme park – consisting of a multitude of pools heated at different temperatures, a multi-storey water slide tower, and a spa and wellness block. The venue also produced its own branded mineral water through a commercial scale bottling plant.
“Since the Waiwera hot pools complex closed, there has been no other destination venue opened in the area to take its place – leaving the way open for a new venture to fill the void. And especially as 865 Hibiscus Highway had access to the same pristine mineral water which served the Waiwera resort so well for decades,” Greenwood said.
