Big Blenheim development block

The 2.9ha development site at 157 - 159 Muller Rd, Blenheim, is identified by a red border. Photo / Supplied

A big chunk of development land on Blenheim's suburban boundary - zoned for the creation of up to 39 new home sections has been placed on the market.

The flat and largely undeveloped 2.9ha site at 157 - 159 Muller Road is zoned Urban Residential 2 under Marlborough District Council's plans.

The 2.9ha site is being marketed for sale through Bayleys Marlborough with tenders closing at 4pm on November 2. Andy Poswillo of Bayleys Marlborough says the landholding is coming onto the market at a time when housing affordability was becoming an issue for many first-home buyers in Blenheim.

"It's feasible that subdivision of this former farm into residential plots could see the resulting 39 sections come onto the market for somewhere around the $200,000 mark," Poswillo says.

"Add on the cost of constructing a comfortable single-level dwelling, and young families could look at getting into the Blenheim property market for under $500,000. That's considerably lower than many of the new-build house and land packages being touted around the city right now, which are being marketed for upwards of $600,000."

Poswillo says Blenheim-based home builder Peter Ray Homes is advertising its 145sqm three-bedroom/two bathroom family dwelling option from $262,000. The new-build home comes complete with separate dining and living areas, and two garaging.

Poswillo says the land being sold by Bayleys will sustain section sizes of between 400 to 870sqm - with most at the more compact end of the scale.

He says Blenheim-based resource management consultancy Ayson Survey + has already drawn up potential subdivision plans for the former farm property.

The firms' proposed subdivision of the greenbelt site would see a new access road servicing the new sections, linking up Muller Rd with Tavera St. Both cul-de-sacs are currently 'dead end' streets.

The Muller Rd landholding is occupied by two modest dwellings - one built in the 1970s and the other in 1991. Under Ayson Survey +'s proposed section and roading layout, both of these homes would remain, while some old farm buildings would be demolished to make way for more efficient land use.

In addition to connecting Muller Rd with Tavera St, the new 16m wide road will loop around the northern portion of what will be a new residential enclave.

A site investigation report and separate geotech' report into the Muller Rd landholding have already been undertaken on the land, and Poswillo says both of these will be made available to prospective purchasers.

Poswillo says that a quick sale of the Muller Rd development site would "set the ball in motion" for what he hopes will be an expedient construction programme that could see homes being built in the enclave as early as this time next year - subject to the creation of roading, installation of utility services to sections boundaries, and issuance of land titles.