Big firms move in as pace picks up at estate

Signs of industrial buildings popping up at the Tauriko Business Estate on the south-western outskirts of Tauranga have gladdened the heart of developer Bryce Donne.
All developers, and builders, have had a tough time of it as borrowing became tight during the past two to three years of the recession - but they were always going to look forward to the recovery.
Activity slowed at the region's biggest new business park (Tauriko) - in line with other developments around the country - but the pace is now picking up.
"It was not all about selling land and sections, and I wanted to see buildings leaping up; that's happening quite nicely at the moment," said Mr Donne, director of Element IMF, the company managing the project.
"We are pleased with the scale and standard of building under construction. Certainly, the recession slowed demand and we would have liked to have done more in the last three years.
"Business owners wanting larger or new buildings have been in no hurry to relocate and they've had time to make the right decision. But with the new building going on, they've started thinking that the sky is not going to fall in and 'we've been through the worst, so let's get on with it'."
The new regional depot and offices for Downer EDI Works, taking up 1.6ha, on the flat at Tauriko Business Estate is finished; Kiwi Bus Builders' 5000sq m factory on a 1.8ha site just behind is rushing to completion by the end of February; and Bidvest NZ's food distribution centre is halfway through construction further along the road.
Manufacturer Melba Foods has just moved into its new factory on the elevated section, and a local importer of gates has just settled on some land and will soon begin construction.
Other businesses that have already set up in the estate include Morgan Furniture and Kong's (NZ), with new distribution centres, Bluelab Corporation, PowerGen Group and Extreme Boats.
Another company wanting to establish a central North Island distribution centre is negotiating a 1ha site and wants to be operating at Tauriko by October, having discounted a Mount Maunganui location.
"We feel the tide is turning in our favour," Mr Donne said. "The business estate is accessible to Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua and the port, and it has the flexibility to provide any size or shape of land you want.
"Nowadays, it's not all about box shapes and business owners need particular shapes of factories to suit their manufacturing methods."
Mr Donne always had faith that the big business estate would work and attract new businesses and workers to the region - it was identified by SmartGrowth as one of the new industrial areas catering for the increased population in the Western Bay, along with Papamoa East and Rangiuru Business Park.
Tauriko is ahead of the others in terms of development, which started in 2005. Mr Donne had a 15-year horizon for completion and he accepts that this may have stretched to 20 years because of the recession.
"But you don't know how it will pan out and the long-term demand is likely to balance itself out. We may still meet our earlier projections," he said.
"We haven't yet sold a site to a major manufacturer or distributor new to the area and wanting 10-20ha. We are confident this will happen some time - we don't know what it will be - and when it does that will make a big difference."
The original 195ha of farmland was bought by NZRPG Management with Mr Donne and Mark Gunton, both from Auckland, the directors. The land is in the valley alongside Kopurererua Stream from State Highway 29 at Route K roundabout past Gargan Rd to Belk Rd.
Element IMF has completed roading, lighting and water/sewage services in stage one of 55ha, and created 110 sections - 94 have been sold and they range in size from 665sq m to 1.4ha.
It has largely completed 20ha of earthworks in stage two up to Gargan Rd, and Mr Donne said the roads and services could be put in within six months once demand rose.
Stage three, as yet untouched, goes all the way to Belk Rd, finishing at the intersection with the state highway.
Some of the smaller sites fronting the main road (for profile) on the elevated areas sold for more than $300 per sq m, but one section changed hands last year for less than $200 a sq m in a "stressed" sale.
Mr Donne said the average sale price originally was $245 a sq m, and the price varied depending on the size and location of the site in the estate.
"We sense there's been a softening in prices of 10 per cent but that's not the end of the world. We want to see the estate priced at a level that matches business fundamentals."
Element IMF has been talking with the New Zealand Transport Agency about the option of pushing the Tauriko bypass through the estate, turning right off the Pyes Pa bypass, following the Gargan Rd escarpment and re-joining the state highway at Omanawa Rd.
Mr Donne's team has cut a track though the land to show an intended route of 5.1km bypass - it would be flat all the way and require three bridges. "There wouldn't be any more entry points than the present three, but the bypass would lift the profile of the business estate and reinforce its connection with the port and other areas," he said.
NZRPG Management still wants to establish the Tauriko Crossing shopping centre on the commercially-zoned 12.5ha site at the front of the business estate and next to the state highway and Route K roundabout.
"We have done our homework and Tauranga needs a comprehensive regional retail offer that is driven from outside the immediate catchment," said commercial manager Rachel Emerson, who is running the leasing campaign for NZRPG.
"Fraser Cove, Bayfair, Owens Place, Bay Central and Gate Pa shopping centres are all full and, if a large format retailer wants to come to town, there's nowhere to go."
Tauriko Crossing will be built in stages with a mixture of open-air bulk retail and a two-level enclosed mall.
The size will reach 41,000sq m of retail space, making it the biggest shopping centre in the Bay.