The land and building that housed one of the North Island’s leading pet food manufacturers and exporters have been placed on the market for sale.

The property in the Wairarapa town of Carterton has been a base for food processing for more three decades. For the past 20 years it has been the main production plant of New Zealand-owned Ranchmans Pet Food – which late last year relocated its expanding operations to a new facility in the Waikato.

The freehold land and factory building at 10 Ballinger Place is now being marketed for sale by Bayleys Wairarapa. Salesperson Lindsay Watts said the premises comprised a purpose-built, 347-square metre food processing building on 1,216 square metres of freehold land.

The corner-site property is located one block from High Street in Carterton’s town centre and is being sold as vacant. Mr Watts said the building was constructed in the 1960s and had been added to over the years as the popular Ranchmans Pet Food business expanded. It now included administrative offices, along with dry-store and chilled-storage facilities.

“The improvements comprise a mixture of concrete-block and timber-framed construction and are appropriate for any new owners looking to extend the life of the food-processing operations,” said Mr Watts.

The land included a small grassed area set back from neighbouring properties, and offered potential for expansion of the existing operations, he said.

“The Ballinger Place property’s close proximity and sightlines to State Highway 2, which runs through central Carterton, provide future occupiers with ready access and profile to pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the town centre,” Mr Watts said.

“While the property is zoned Commercial under the Wairarapa combined district plan, it is located on a quiet cul-de-sac within a mixed-use neighbourhood where surrounding development has become increasingly residential in nature.

“This, coupled with its location a six-minute walk from Carterton train station and its regular services to Wellington, presents possibilities – subject to appropriate council consents - for redevelopment of the site into residential dwellings underpinned by attractive commuter options.”

Mr Watts said Carterton’s population already included a growing number of people commuting daily to Wellington for work, while making the most of the relaxed lifestyle and more affordable housing options in the Wairarapa.

Other possibilities for future uses could include as a craft brewery or a commercial storage facility, he said.

“The new Beertown precinct in repurposed industrial buildings at the former Dunlop tyre plant in Upper Hutt has drawn consumer demand northward from Wellington’s CBD. The potential is there for savvy operators to emulate this model and promote Carterton as the next stop over the hills.

“Carterton is an up-and-coming district on the doorstep of the prosperous Wellington region. The town’s economy is buoyed by productive activity in surrounding areas from established farms and vineyards – as well as emerging crops such as olives, which are finding favour among newer residents on lifestyle blocks. On top of this, the district has benefited from growing numbers of visitors coming from Wellington and further afield for weekends and extended holidays,” said Mr Watts.