Egg producer calls time on its 'mill on the hill'

Mainland Poultry, a privately owned Dunedin company and the largest integrated poultry egg producer in New Zealand, is selling the "mill on the hill", a West Auckland property that has stood as a landmark in the Waitakere foothills for more than 60 years.

The property at 1-9 Red Hills Rd, Massey, is being marketed by Ron Green and Tim Park of DTZ New Zealand, with buyers asked for expressions of interest by July 10.

In World War II a group of poultry farmers pooled their resources and developed an integrated feed milling operation on the site.

Employing new and better techniques, the business developed into an innovative leader in the animal nutrition and health industry.

In 2001 PCL Feeds, as it was known, became part of the Mainland Poultry Group and last year the ruminant feed component of this business was purchased by ABB Grain.

The non-ruminant business became Mainland Feeds and continues to service the poultry industry, but a new feed mill is to be built in South Auckland, resulting in the sale of the Red Hills Rd site.

Green says the land, totalling 2.45ha, is in four titles. Of this total, about 10,000sq m is road frontage within Waitakere City's industrial zone and allows for a wide range of industrial activity.

Existing buildings comprise feed mill, store and utilities room, offices, factory and workshop totalling about 3500sq m.

The property has a wide road frontage at the corner of Don Buck Rd, which is a main arterial route running from SH16 in the north to Swanson Rd in the south and providing a high volume of traffic. The surrounding area of development comprises retail, commercial, community and residential.

An attraction of the property is its proximity to Westgate Shopping Centre, only five minutes away, and to the Northwestern Motorway and SH16.

Park says the proposed Massey North urban concept plan provides for a new Massey North Town Centre, commercial industry, mixed use developments including apartments, residential area and park and ride facilities. "Retail usage is a discretionary activity and the balance of the land is foothills environment."

Park says the existing owners will provide a leaseback for up to two years, allowing a purchaser time to prepare for future development.