Pheasant estate a happy hunting ground for investors

Titoki Estate lodge buildings and tennis court. Photo / Supplied

Titoki Country Estate, a 560ha property near Rotorua on which a world-class tourism pheasant shooting operation has been established, is for sale for only the second time in 85 years.

Harcourts Rotorua sales consultant Paul Sanford, who is marketing Titoki worldwide, says it is a special property with multiple business income streams which should be inspected to gain a full appreciation of all that it has to offer.

The estate is located between Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, just 15 minutes from Rotorua City and eight minutes from Rotorua International Airport.

Titoki comprises around 200ha of fertile grazing pasture and 280ha of exotic forests with the balance being a mix of virgin native bush, wetlands and "retired" land and waterways.

The property's frontage is easy rolling country with multiple dwellings, farm buildings and a private airstrip, while the hills fall away to valleys and streams at the back of the block.

Titoki Country Estate has been a home and business for John and Liz Wells for 40 years with the driven pheasant shooting operation being a more recent venture.

When fully grazed by them the property boasted a successful Hereford cattle stud and a Perendale sheep stud.

In 1993 they began forestry plantings, establishing a mixture of radiata pine and douglas fir with smaller areas of acacia melanoxylon and larch which together offer a mix for both the production and the sale of carbon credits.

A bonus from a tourism perspective is the estate's 40km of forestry tracks that can be used for a variety of recreational pursuits including horse trekking, hunting, hiking, jogging, trail biking and four-wheel driving.

Sanford says the Titoki Pheasant Preserve was the first pheasant preserve registered in the country following successful lobbying by John Wells to have the operations accepted into New Zealand.

"Prior to being sanctioned there was only limited opportunity to hunt pheasants and this was pretty well restricted to people who owned hunting dogs and could arrange suitable access," he says.

"No one in New Zealand knows as much about running successful pheasant shoots or has been as successful running it as a business as John and Liz Wells."

In addition to running the pheasant shooting operation during a four month season from May to August, Titoki Estate also offer hunting for ducks, peafowl, rabbits, wallabies, deer and pigs along with clay bird shooting. The property also has an Astrograss tennis court.

Liz Wells says the property has provided them with a wonderful home, lifestyle and business and while it has been their "private sanctuary" in the middle of Rotorua's lakes district, the property is also close to all city amenities being just a short drive to Rotorua CBD and the airport.

"We are also just 35 minutes to the coast and an hour to Tauranga or Whakatane," she says.

The property includes a high-quality 700sq m lodge-styled home that was built just two years ago. Along with a fully self-contained guest house, the estate offers a total of five bedrooms with en suites.

There are also two staff houses along with implement sheds, barns, boat sheds and a woolshed that doubles as a shooting venue during the pheasant season.

Sanford says the rolling topography on the frontage of the property would be ideal for a golf course development of international standing.

Dozens of building sites overlooking Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti, which are famous for their excellent trout fishing, also offer the opportunity for a high-class future subdivision.

Located on State Highway 30, Titoki Country Estate is made up of eight titles but is currently for sale by negotiation as one lot.

"Titoki is a very special property with the potential to develop a number of tourism business ventures," Sanford says.

"Considering its size, its many physical features, its location in the heart of one of New Zealand's premier tourist regions and its several income streams, this sale offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity that should not be missed."