Waihi's historic radio and TV buildings go on market

A large slice of Waihi's commercial area, which once housed the Pye and Phillips electronics centre for manufacturing radios and television sets, is up for sale with some former staff still operating businesses from the property.

The 4855sq m site in six titles, at 8-10 Haszard Street, is just 40m from the town's main street and comes with 3478sq m of building area, some occupied by members of the consortium that owns the property.

The property produces net annual rental income of $39,333 from nine tenancies which occupy approx-imately 35 per cent of the total floor area, leaving a substantial amount of vacant space.

The property is up for tender as part of Bayleys' Total Property portfolio through Brendon Bradley and Lynn Bradley of Bayleys Tauranga, closing on July 31 unless sold prior by private treaty.

Brendon Bradley says it is one of the largest properties in the Hauraki/Thames Valley to reach the market for years and provides a range of possibilities under its Town Centre zoning. "The rest of the vacant space could be leased up or the entire property redeveloped. Most tenants are on 18 month leases, some with rights of renewal, but all leases include a redevelopment clause that requires 18 months' notice from the landlord. This gives a new owner flexibility to consider future redevelopment options while receiving a holding income in the interim."

Brendon Bradley says Waihi is a growing tourist destination expanding on the back of its gold mining history and current mining activities.

The proposed $7.7 million Waihi Gold Discovery Centre will be close to the property and the interactive tourist attraction is expected to become a major destination that will draw large numbers of domestic and international visitors passing through the town when it opens in mid-2013.

The Haszard Street property has plenty of history of its own, some of which could well be exploited for the tourist dollar, Bradley says.

The oldest part of the complex is a character building known as Kings Hall which is thought to have been one of the town's earliest dance and then theatre halls. It is a gable-shaped timber framed building, with a wall height of approximately four metres, sufficient to allow a mezzanine floor area at the east end of the building, Brendon Bradley says.

The rest of the complex comprises various factory areas developed by Phillips, Pye and others at various times in its history and is an amalgamation of separate buildings. The entire property has a compliant emergency warning alarm and fire sprinkler systems as required by the Building Act and it has a current building warrant of fitness.

The main loading bay in Martha Street, on to which the property has a 41 metre road frontage, is fitted with a two-tonne overhead crane.