The Whakatāne District Council has entered into a conditional agreement to sell a 3.1-hectare block of Harbour Fund-owned land at Port Ōhope.
Completion of the agreement is conditional on a due diligence process, and if all goes according to plan, the sale will be finalised in January 2014.
The land at 325-345 Harbour Road is adjacent to the Surf and Sand Holiday Park and has been earmarked for residential subdivision in the Council’s proposed District Plan, via the Port Ōhope Structure Plan. The Whakatāne District Council 2012-22 Long Term Plan forecasts that the land would be sold in the 2014/15 financial year.
Mayor Tony Bonne says the conditional sale price represents a realistic outcome in today’s property market and notes that the sale will bring wide benefits for District ratepayers.
“It is promising for Whakatāne to have another major residential subdivision on the horizon, and it underlines the growing confidence in the area after the recent announcement of a potential masterplan approach to a residential, retirement and marine precinct development at Piripai. Such coastal developments fit nicely with the ‘Sunshine Capital’ and ‘NZ’s Best Beach’ titles currently held by the District,” he says.
“The Council regularly receives feedback about the need for more development land to support growth, and this agreement is another step towards that goal. Once established, the land area involved is capable of housing in the order of 40 homes and will be a healthy contributor to our total rates income.”
Proceeds from the sale will be credited to the Harbour Fund. “Because the sale proceeds would be received earlier than anticipated, there would also be a positive impact on the interest income gained by the Harbour Fund,” Mr Bonne says.
The conditional offer to purchase the land was received earlier this year, following direct marketing approaches to prospective purchasers by the Council’s Business Development group. Commercial reasons prevent further details of the agreement being made public at this time.