"The two sites are on a high visibility route in Hamilton's fastest growing retail and industrial area, with business occupiers exposed to a large volume of passing vehicles daily."
The larger of the two offerings is on 1500sq m of land at 1000 Te Rapa Rd. It has operated as The Highway Fruit and Vege business for the past 30 years and comprises a main retail building of 320sq m and two storage sheds totalling 120m sq m at the rear.
Swanson says the level, rectangular-shaped property has worked well for the business established by the vendor, as reflected by the longevity of its occupancy.
"The site has about 30sq m of frontage to Te Rapa Rd with easy access for vehicles heading north. There is also plenty of car parking for customers with 15 parallel parks along the northern side of the building.
"It is well suited to convenience retailing, with high volumes of passing motorists providing a good level of 'drop in' business.
"Potential future uses, subject to obtaining resource consent, could include a fast food, fuel or some other type of service business looking for a site that has plenty of exposure and profile."
He says the main building could be re-purposed and expanded and leased out; or the under-utilised site could be completely redeveloped in conjunction with the neighbouring property.
That adjoining property, at 1006 Te Rapa Rd, encompasses 1012sq m of land and about 300sq m of industrial buildings.
It has operated as David Irving Motors' automotive repair and servicing business for the last 45 years.
"This business also benefits from a superb profile to the large amount of traffic that travels along the four-lane road. Along with the nearby, newly opened Waikato Expressway, it serves as a main northern route to and from Hamilton," says ten Hove.
"When David Irving brought the property to establish his business there in the 1970s, Te Rapa was a predominantly rural area with a large Air Force base.
This was developed into The Base shopping centre following the transfer of the land's ownership to Tainui in the 1990s as part of the Crown's treaty settlement process.
"The ongoing development of The Base, which has also stimulated other complementary developments, has completely transformed Te Rapa into a major retail destination, particularly for bulk retailing."
The Base comprises the original outdoor strip mall as well as the more recent Te Awa large enclosed shopping mall. It has close to 200 stores, a Hoyts Cinema complex featuring the largest silver screen in the country, a wide range of food and beverage outlets and over 3000 carparks.
Nearby are the Boulevard, a homeware-focused large format retail centre opposite a big Harvey Norman store, a number of major car franchises and the Te Rapa Gateway industrial park.
Swanson says Te Rapa has continued to grow as Hamilton's main industrial hub on the back of a substantial amount of greenfields land and its pivotal position, close to the motorway, in the 'Golden Triangle' of Auckland, Tauranga — both within 90 minutes' drive — and Hamilton.
He says much of Hamilton's future growth will be to the north and east of the city as development is pulled in the direction of the strong economic nodes of Auckland and Tauranga along the connecting communication and transport corridors.
"Te Rapa will continue to be a key part of this development which augurs well for investors and businesses purchasing well-located property in this precinct.
"The two properties at 1000 and 1006 Te Rapa Rd present an opportunity to tap into this growth through immediate redevelopment or they could be viewed as a long term holds and leased outs in the short to medium term in the expectation that land values will continue to grow in this location."
