Potential abounds in Tokoroa industrial hub

Industrial owner-occupiers and developers are turning to South Waikato as lots go up for sale in a new hub combining a strategic location, competitive land prices and outstanding transport links.

Thirteen freehold sections are now available for purchase at Tokoroa’s Maraetai Road Intermodal Business Park, through Bayleys Real Estate.

The subdivision has been purpose-designed with vacant industrial-zoned lots ranging in size from some 1,696 square metres to two hectares to accommodate a wide variety of small, medium and large-scale operators. All sites are flat with all usual services provided to the boundary.

The central North Island location provides exceptional connectivity at the southern fringe of the economic ‘Golden Triangle’ linking Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga.

A standout feature is direct access to a rail siding providing a vital link to the Port of Tauranga, alongside excellent access to State Highways 1 and 32.

Lots 1-13 Maraetai Road Intermodal Business Park, Tokoroa, are being offered for sale by negotiation through Ryan Bradley and Brendon Bradley of Bayleys Tauranga.

Ryan Bradley says the offering reflects Tokoroa’s emergence as a viable and cost-effective option in the industrial market.

“Making a combined 5.0299 hectares of new industrial land available is a statement that South Waikato is open for business and prepared to step up as the major northern centres undergo a prolonged squeeze in land supply.

“A collaborative, pro-business council, commercial real estate that’s a fraction of big city prices, an eager, skilled workforce, proximity to major centres, and great logistics with a fast road/rail hub make South Waikato an ideal base for business big and small,” Ryan Bradley says.

Investors and owner-occupiers will relish the chance to secure industrial land in the new Tokoroa hub at an affordable $200-$250 per square metre, he says.

“New supply of industrial land with scale is virtually non-existent in the Golden Triangle’s main centres, contributing to soaring prices. The per-square-metre rate of the Tokoroa lots is half, or even a third, of those typically demanded in key centres of industry in Hamilton and Tauranga – and more affordable again compared with Auckland,” says Ryan Bradley.

South Waikato District Council works with enterprises seeking to establish or relocate to the district, aiming to smooth consenting and ensure zoning and planning provisions are business friendly.

Brendon Bradley says industrial zoning under the district plan supports wide-ranging forms of industry and other uses including showrooms and ancillary retailing.

It generally permits building heights of up to 40 metres, subject to height-to-boundary rules.

“The council has tipped Tokoroa’s intermodal connectivity to attract processing and manufacturing businesses and further improve the area’s attractiveness to exporters of finished goods.

“The Maraetai Road Intermodal Business Park sits beside the Kinleith branch rail line and the sites for sale benefit from a direct road into the Tokoroa Road/Rail Terminal. This includes a rail siding hard stand, local road connection, bulk storage area and a container loading/unloading facility and supports easy rail freight connections to New Zealand’s largest and most efficient port in Tauranga.

“Tokoroa’s central position on State Highway 1 between Taupo and Hamilton puts it within a two-hour drive of 65 percent of New Zealand’s population and enables efficient movement of goods throughout the North Island.

“The area’s advantages are attracting significant investment and innovation, as evidenced by the recent $14 million South Waikato Trades Training Centre in Tokoroa, and development of a cutting-edge dairy processing facility by global food giant Olam Food Ingredients on an 11.8-hectare site near the Maraetai Road Intermodal Business Park,” Brendon Bradley says.

According to Bayleys’ latest quarterly Industrial Market Update, developers are increasingly active in acquiring land for future projects, particularly where they can secure well located sites with long-term growth potential.

One in three Bayleys brokers nationwide reported a scarcity of modern industrial warehousing. Development feasibility is holding up in the face of stable rents, yields and construction costs, the report found.