"The three level building is in an excellent location very close to Auckland’s rugby mecca of Eden Park which is New Zealand's largest sporting stadium," says Cam Paterson of Barfoot & Thompson Commercial who is marketing 516 New North Rd for sale by tender closing at 3 pm on Thursday March 3 at the agency’s 50 Kitchener St, Auckland central office.
According to Kingsland Heritage, the brick fire station was built in a Georgian Revival style in 1933 to replace an original timber station with a watch tower that was erected in 1906.
Paterson says the 450 sq m building on a 496 sq m freehold site was completely renovated after a fire in 2008 and it is not a heritage listed building. "That renovation included replacement of the roof and rafters, upgrading the electrical system, new plumbing, gib plasterboarding, new doors and painting throughout resulting in an attractive and modernised building."
In addition to the 18 accommodation rooms, the property has a large common lounge area, two kitchens and bathroom facilities on each level and comes with five car parks.
Construction
The construction comprises pile foundations, concrete and timber flooring and triple brick exterior walls with a rendered plaster wall cladding. The roofing is clay tile and corrugated iron while timber joinery has been used for the windows and doors. Interior linings are plaster board and timber.
Paterson says the property, which has 15 metre frontage to the busy arterial New North Road, has an estimated gross income potential of $208,954 annually as an 18 bedroom consented boarding house. The rooms are of varying sizes and generate different returns based on their sizes and outlooks including views of Eden Park. The room charges range from $300 per week for a double room to $200 per week for a smaller single room.
"The rates are very reasonable resulting in a very high occupancy rate," says Paterson.
"Due to Auckland’s chronic housing shortage, accommodation is in strong demand with this property already producing a reliable income from multiple sources for a new purchaser and the income set to increase as demand grows due to other boarding facilities making way for larger scale developments," he says.
The Site
The site is almost regular in shape falling to the south to provide an outlook over Eden Park and Mt Eden. The property is zoned Residential 7A in the current operation council plan allowing for one household per 200 sq m of land area with a maximum building height of 10 metres and 35 per cent building site coverage and a minimum subdivision size of 400 sq m. However a zoning of Mixed Housing Urban under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan will permit a 10 metre maximum height with 40 per cent building coverage and a minimum subdivision size of 300 sq m.