The flat 1,856-square metre (approx.) sheltered beachside plot is located at the Tauranga seaside suburb of Mount Maunganui and looks directly out onto Pilot Bay Beach and the inner Tauranga Harbour.
The desirable seaside address has a road frontage of approximately 34.86 metres (approx.) and is zoned high-density residential under the Tauranga City Council plan. It currently sustains a long-running motel accommodation business trading as a going concern.
The generally rectangular-shaped property at 27A The Mall in Mount Maunganui is being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Tauranga, with tenders closing on April 27. Salespeople Rory Brown and Sharon Hall said that with the property currently operating as a popular motel – holding income could be generated while redevelopment plans for the site were drawn up for submission to Tauranga City Council.
“Very rarely do landholdings come up for sale in this strip of Mount Maunganui – and certainly very few of this size and development scale,” said Hall.
“As Tauranga’s population and economy grow, so too does demand for premium addresses to live in – and they don’t get much better than this outstanding location in The Mall at Mount Maunganui, which has less than 50 residential properties along its beachfront.
“Early feedback we have had from prospective buyers on our database who have looked at the property through a development lens is that the site in its current scale could be easily subdivided into three or four good sized sections capable of sustaining some very large homes.
“There is of course also the option of retaining the land in its current size, and having a substantial high-end home built which would make it one of the most expensive singular residences anywhere in Mount Maunganui. The permutations of its future use are numerous.”
Pilot Bay Beach is one of Tauranga’s most popular swimming spots - preferred by families with young children over the bigger waves and bigger crowds of Mount Maunganui and Papamoa on the other side of the isthmus.
Tauranga City Council’s high-density residential zoning for the site allows for the provision of: “high-density development at the western end of Mount Maunganui adjacent to the downtown shopping area, the beach, harbour and recreational amenities. The intent is to provide for a mix of visitor accommodation and permanent residential accommodation in the form of multi-unit and apartment developments.”
The council’s residential intensification guidelines allow for dwellings within the high-density zoning of The Mall to be built on sections of 100-square metres, up to nine metres high, while being set back a minimum of three metres from the road frontage boundary.
Tauranga City Council has invested in various beautification and landscaping projects in the precinct between the port where cruise liners tied up in the harbour, and Mount Maunganui’s central business district with its array of food and beverage, and retail entities.
Sitting in the middle of Pilot Bay Beach, The Mall site for sale overlooks a safe, sandy swimming beach interspersed with mature Norfolk pine trees, picnic tables, and just a short stroll from the Mount’s central retail and hospitality precinct.
Brown said The Mall location would appeal to those who enjoyed aquatic activities such as fishing, sailing, kayaking, or jet skiing – particularly with access to a boat ramp just 300 metres from the front of the section.
“The property’s topography and location - directly across the road from a small strip of grassed council reserve land above the Pilot Bay Beach high tide mark – would make it easy to roll out the likes of a kayak, stand up paddleboard, dinghy or jet-ski from the front lawn and launch off the beach,” he said.
“For bigger craft, Pilot Bay’s boat ramp is literally that close that you could drop the boat off the back of the trailer at the launch amenity then drive home and park up on your front lawn,” he said.
Latest property sales data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand shows that median property values in the Tauranga City reached a record peak in February at $1.1million - up 21.5 percent compared to the same month in the previous year. In February 2021, the median house price sale value for the city was $905,000.