Long-held industrial site a hop, skip and jump from Auckland CBD

The large Onewa Rd property is currently occupied by a church. Photo / Supplied

An industrial site owned and occupied by the World Gospel Bible Church in Northcote, with a childcare centre as a secondary tenant, is for sale for the first time in more than a decade.

The property at 119 Onewa Rd, with a 7159sq m land area, is one of the closest industrial holdings to the Auckland CBD from the North Shore.

It is being marketed as part of Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio, by Ashton Geissler of Bayleys North Shore Commercial and his colleague Matt Mimmack, with tenders closing on March 22 unless it sells prior to tender.

"The property has two road frontages of about 82m on to Onewa Rd and a site depth of 100m from Gladstone Rd, offering a new owner significant opportunities, especially if they intend to develop the property further," says Geissler. "The property is in a very high-profile location, with Onewa Rd being the main thoroughfare from Birkenhead and surrounding suburbs to the Auckland Harbour Bridge and the Northern Motorway."

The church uses most of the building area on the site but is relocating.

The main building has a two-level 614sq m office wing at the front and a 3018sq m warehouse behind, which has contained a church auditorium, dining hall, lecture rooms, a childcare centre and a joinery factory. At the rear of the site is an older 750sq m two-level building used as residential dwellings and by the childcare centre.

Mimmack says although the property is now occupied by the church, it is still largely an industrial building. "The two-level wing containing former administration offices faces the road and has provided an effective sound barrier for the church behind it. The warehouse at the rear takes the form of three low-stud bays, with the two largest in twin-gable form. An added bonus is that the whole building is fully fire sprinklered."

Mimmack says the site is an amalgamation of four separate titles, with a former residential site on the Gladstone Rd intersection now providing the main entrance to the church and some parking, while access to the larger parking area at the rear is via another former residential site further along Gladstone Rd.

"The location and the zoning still lends itself to business activity, being so close to the motorway system," Geissler says.

Commercial activity around the building includes retail, a gymnasium and some modern low-rise offices, but the surrounding area mainly consists of residential dwellings and schools.

"This gives the property huge potential for conversion with the appropriate consents into anything from bulk retail to smaller office/residential units."