Hobsonville superyacht plan starts to take shape

The Yard 37 development has already attracted interest. Photo / Supplied

Despite the collapse of two high-profile Auckland superyacht builders in the past year, plans for the Yard 37 superyacht manufacturing and refit hub in Hobsonville are plowing ahead.

The development is spearheaded by Waitakere Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary of Waitakere City Council, which purchased 20ha of waterfront land, formerly occupied by the Hobsonville airforce base, for development as a superyacht facility.

Waitakere Properties chief executive Greg Parker said resource consent hearings to consider harbour dredging and land development applications put forward by Yard 37 would take place in May and June.

Parker said he did not expect many hurdles in gaining permission for the project, and having the consents would make it easier to attract investors to the development.

"As we get further down the consenting path we'll be seeking to move from people saying 'yes we think this is good' to 'yes we'd like to buy it'," he said.

Parker said the development - which had its "soft launch" last August following several years of planning - had already received three to four "serious expressions of interest".

Earth would be turned and work on the project set in motion within 18 months, he said.

Yard 37 has also secured a grant of $2 million from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to go towards marine infrastructure.

As a condition of the grant, the $2 million must be matched by private sector investment, he said.

Parker said if a single investor was to build all the infrastructure and buildings for the development it would cost about $150 million.

The development would see 84,000sq m of marine sheds constructed, with facilities capable of housing superyachts up to 90m in length.

But before the development can begin, freehold titles to the land on which the marine sheds will be built must be sold.

The communal areas of the development, such as common yard space and ship lifts, would be shared between the title holders in a body corporate-type agreement

"We thought about leasehold when the financial boom was going on, but the feedback from the market was that they weren't interested [in leasehold]," said Parker.

"What we are finding is that the boat builders might not be the people who own the sheds - it might be a professional investor."

Parker travelled to the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show in February, with Waitakere Enterprise's Darryn Grant, to promote the development.

He said he and Grant spoke to a number of sheikhs who expressed interest in investing in Yard 37.

Neil Hunt, operations manager of Titan Marine Engineering, which provides haul-out facilities and refit services for superyachts in downtown Auckland, said the refit industry in the city was "a booming success".

Superyacht refits have become a lucrative sector of Auckland's marine industry.

Last year, Oracle founder Larry Ellison's superyacht - the 56m Zenji - was hauled out of the water at Titan Marine.

The work on Zenji contributed around $14 million to the Auckland marine refit industry.