Selling the lot: Old hospital land draws strong interest
Hundreds look to snap up sections suitable for homes and townhouses
I think it’s really great for Napier to have the opportunity to see that land develop.
Bayleys Napier real estate agent Kerry Geange
Individual sections for sale on parts of the old Napier Hospital site have received hundreds of inquiries in a matter of weeks, leaving realtors “blown away”. The 2.6ha site on Hospital Hill has been split into 22 sections made up of 14 individual sections ranging from 511sq m to 1678sq m, seven ‘super lots’ ranging between 961sq m to 1287sq m and one parcel of 4110sq m.
The land was bought by Templeton Group from Todd Property Group as part of a portfolio of more than 300 titles late last year.
In January it went on sale as a whole piece of land before the developer decided to develop the land into individual sections for sale.
Bayleys Napier real estate agents Kerry Geange and Caroline Meo are selling the sections, which entered the market about three weeks ago.
“I think it’s really great for Napier to have the opportunity to see that land develop; everyone has been watching it for a long time and it’s great now it’s become available at a time in the market it could have been difficult,” Geange said.
He could not currently disclose how many expressions of interest there have been, but they were “in the hundreds not the tens”.
“It was a bit uncertain coming out of lockdown, I thought given the nature of the site there would be some demand, but we’ve been absolutely blown away with the number of inquiries.”
There had been a lot of local interest as well as a “lot of inquiry from out of town” which is a mix of expats returning and people looking to relocate predominantly from Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga.
There have not been many inquiries from overseas but has been international online viewing and Geange expects when there is certainty around borders re-open people may come back.
Section prices start at around $350,000.
“With the level of inquiry, there may well be some of the top ones with the great views pushing a million dollars.
“People certainly see the value in the site, they can see the long-term values and haven’t been put off by recent happenings,” Geange said.
The single sections are suitable for houses, while super lots could have multiple titles on the section.
Geange said the original intent of the super lots was so that townhouses could be built on the sections.
The large piece of land had originally been consented for two tower apartment blocks but at this stage will likely be for residential development, he said.
“There’s still plenty of demand for apartments in Hawke’s Bay, which is really exciting and important, but what we are seeing for these types of locations is that it is more of a free stand residential home or townhouse type of demand”.
He said there has been interest from people looking to build a large house.
Further down Hospital Terrace modern homes had been built on what was also originally hospital land and Geange said he sees the new development as being an “extension of this quality of homes”.
Napier Hospital shut in 1998 and was demolished in 2015.