What the properties look like now. Photo / Supplied
What the properties look like now. Photo / Supplied
Four heritage homes on Hobsonville Point's waterfront that once lodged married air force officers are on the market for the first time.
The stand-alone houses were built in the 1930s on what was then the grounds of the Auckland air force base but has since been redeveloped into a new suburb marketed as an affordable housing area.
They are among 15 air force properties in the area preserved due to their heritage value.
Each sits on freehold sections of more than 1000sqm overlooking both the Waitemata Harbour and the former air force cricket green where formal parties for the officers and their wives used to be held as well as cricket matches between the different branches of the military.
The residences' locations reflected the status of the servicemen who once lived there who outranked the flight arm crews who slept in barracks and smaller dwellings at the base.
According to heritage archives, three of the houses were designed to replicate English cottages and the fourth was built in an "English Bungalow" style.
Three are two-storey and one is single-level.
All are yet to receive council valuations because they have never been sold before.
But, Simon Spiller of Bayleys North West, who is marketing them, said he expected the properties to fetch a "premium price" because of their location and section sizes.
An artist's impression of what the area will look like when the development is finished. Picture / Supplied
A second visualisation of what the waterfront street might one day look like. Picture / Supplied
In 2015, one heritage listed former air force bungalow - which had been refurbished and extended - sold for $1.6million.
The median property value in Hobsonville (including Hobsonville Point) is $974,400, according to QV.
One property on nearby Buckley Ave jumped more than 45 per cent to $2.45million in the council valuations released this week.
Hobsonville Point was granted Special Housing Area status in 2013.
When the development is complete it will boast 4500 homes and a population of 11,000.
The properties will be mostly a mix of apartments, terraced units, duplexes and stand-alone one-storeys but 15 will be heritage homes at the Hobsonville air base - which operated from 1929 until it was amalgamated with the nearby Whenuapai air base in 1965.
Spiller said Hobsonville Point's developer had been given resource consent to potentially increase the floor space of the four married officers' homes and also modernise them by addding more bathrooms, toilet or making bedrooms kitchens and dining areas bigger.
A view of the homes currently from what was once the air force cricket pitch. Photo / Supplied
Although the houses' heritage classification limits the cosmetic structural alterations that can be made to both the interiors and exteriors, the resource consents would allow for architects and designers to advise how owners could maximise the large flat sections and seafront vistas.
The outside of the houses are being renovated, triple-garaging has been added, new driveways are being constructed and the properties are being re-landscaped.
