New sites at Whanganui industrial development in Castlecliff on the market

New lots are for sale at the Westbourne Estate industrial development in Mill Rd, Castlecliff. Photo / Supplied

The first new freehold sites have been put up for sale at the industrial area on Mill Rd in Castlecliff.

Whanganui & Partners strategic business lead Tim Easton said there were currently two active lots at the Westbourne Industrial Estate at Mill Rd.

"The 120ha industrial zone is all privately owned, with the exception of one Whanganui District Council block," Easton said.

The remainder of the zoned land needed to be developed further before it could be accessible to business, he said.

"From our experience with the site so far, we can see a wide range of businesses and industry has been established at Mill Rd already.

"The exceptional Wight Aluminium factory and Parkwood Doors are already operating at the estate along with Castlecliff Health, CP Wool, and Country Bikes."

Bayleys' agent Russell Duggan, who is selling the lots, said flexible options on land are available and businesses can acquire exactly the amount of land they need for their specific requirements.

"The area is already home to a good mixture of occupiers and operations including warehousing and storage facilities, manufacturing and large-scale industry, as well as new operations looking to begin construction in the next six to 24 months.

"Indications are that more will follow as this fresh industrial hub continues to expand.

"The hub is anchored by nationally recognised occupiers and all parcels of land in the adjacent development are under offer or contract," Duggan said.

Easton said there were three main types of businesses that would have a significant positive impact on the local economy.

"Local businesses looking to expand their operations and move into bigger premises. In a positive knock-on effect, this will also allow other businesses to take on the premises they are vacating," Easton said.

Then there were new businesses that would support existing industries.

"We've got a great cluster of manufacturing and food production businesses in Whanganui," Easton said.

"They require a range of different services and products to support their operation. We'd love the industrial estate at Mill Rd to become a home for manufacturing support businesses either relocating or establishing in Whanganui."

The third type would be businesses that wanted to be involved in Te Pūwaha (the port redevelopment project).

"The Westbourne Industrial Estate is only 1-2km from the newly developing port," Easton said.

"There is a lot of opportunities for businesses to secure green fields industrial land ahead of Te Pūwaha being completed.

"This could be in the area of supporting coastal freight movement, marine engineering, log processing facilities, aquaculture, and other related industry."