An artist's image of plans for a part of the 56ha Waipupuke development near Drury.
An artist's image of plans for a part of the 56ha Waipupuke development near Drury.
A multimillion-dollar slice of South Auckland land may be snapped up cheaply, now that the 8ha parcel for future housing planned by a well-known Kiwi businessman is up for mortgagee sale.
Ballu Khan - who was once accused of being involved in a plot to assassinate former Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama - owns 323-329 Karaka Rd, 40km south of central Auckland, through his company Lomai Properties, public records show.
Auckland Council values the former farmland near Drury at $13 million.
Terrace and low-rise apartments up to three storeys can be built on the land, which is part of a broader 56ha Waipupuke mixed retail and housing development site.
The larger development includes plans for hundreds of new homes along with a neighbourhood centre, public parks, retail outlets such as a hotel and gym, and a medical centre with a specialist clinic.
Bayleys selling agents say the land sits in the middle of the Drury area, where more than 40,000 new homes are planned over the next 30 years, and where KiwiRail has committed to building two train stations in Drury and one in nearby Paerata.
“The mortgagee sale of the Karaka Rd landholding offers buyers the chance to be part of the development action in this fast-growing location, or to landbank for the future,” Bayleys real estate agent Kristina Liu said.
Non-bank lender Pearlfisher is listed as holding a mortgage over the 8ha site’s two titles.
Lomai Properties earlier had to fight to get its plans for the 56ha Waipupuke site approved.
Auckland Council initially rejected the proposed plan change, leading Lomai Properties to appeal the decision to the Environment Court.
However, the council and Lomai Properties were then able to negotiate a resolution outside of court, leading to the plan change being formally approved last December.
Ballu Khan had claimed the Fiji police illegally detained him.
Khan earlier made headlines when he became caught up in the military coup launched by Frank Bainimarama in 2006 that overthrew Fiji’s incumbent Government.
A former military commander, Bainimarama held on to power in Fiji for 16 years after seizing the top job by force.
He later recast himself as a democratic leader by introducing a new constitution and winning elections in 2014 and 2018, until losing power in a close election in December.
However, human rights groups long accused him of intimidating critics and using media censorship to restrict freedom of speech.
Following the coup, businessman Khan was arrested in 2007 along with nine others and accused of conspiring to assassinate Bainimarama and several of his Cabinet ministers.
Khan was beaten while in custody in 2007, before being released by Fiji’s High Court in 2008.
Khan told TVNZ in a television interview in 2009 he had been arrested as part of what he said was Bainimarama’s efforts to cling on to power and protect himself.
An 8ha slice of vacant land at 323-329 Karaka Rd near Drury and earmarked to be part of a large retail and housing development is up for mortgagee sale.
Bayleys agents, meanwhile, are encouraging developers and “land bankers” to consider buying Khan’s former 8ha of vacant land.
“With residential zoning approved via a private plan change, the site for sale on Karaka Rd is part of the wider Waipupuke master-planned residential subdivision,” the Bayleys team said.
It sits minutes from State Highway 1, and around 450m from a planned train station, positioning future residents well for commuting to Auckland or Hamilton or to “capitalise on burgeoning employment locally”.
To the east of the Drury State Highway 1 interchange, it is proposed to rezone 328ha to form a major new urban hub, the Bayleys agents said.
“Driven by Kiwi Property, Oyster Capital and Fulton Hogan, the Drury East project is set to add around 7000 new homes, nearly 120,000sq m of retail space, and some 58,000sq m of new offices. It also provides for a new hospital precinct, three schools, a new library and public open spaces,” they said.
Meanwhile, just to the south, the Stevenson Group’s Drury South Crossing project plans to convert more than 360ha for a mixed-use precinct combining industrial, commercial and residential buildings.
Also nearby are the 104ha Karaka Rd site bought by Fisher & Paykel for $275m to create a new business campus, and the 4500-home Paerata Rise residential project.
