Greenlane site up for auction

A desirable freehold site at 450 Great South Road Greenlane is for sale by auction on 19 May with Mike Adams of Bayleys Auckland.

Having had only two owners since the early 1950s and home to Eade Cars Ltd since 1979, the 787sq m site in the heart of Greenlane’s ‘car dealer central’ strip represents a rare offering in today’s market given the tightly-held status of property in the area.

“This site has excellent exposure to busy Great South Road and while historically this precinct has been associated with motor vehicle retail sales outlets, we are currently seeing a changing usage profile as evidenced by the recent opening of a new KFC outlet across the road and the proposed 24-hour gym in the neighbourhood,” says Adams.

“The zoning provides for a number of end-use opportunities and the existing tenant’s flexibility on possible lease terms means the property will have appeal for owner-occupiers, investors and developers.

“Commercial property in the Greenlane/Penrose precinct is still highly sought-after and in line with recent trends in other parts of New Zealand – such as Lower Hutt and Kaiwharawhara on the fringe of Wellington’s centre – traditional car dealer strips are morphing into broader trade-based retail/showroom usage.”

There is a modest 72sq m office building to the rear of the site with drive-through access for staff car parking and a small garage/workshop. The building includes a main office to accommodate up to four staff plus two smaller offices - one of which is currently utilised as a customer lounge – along with a kitchenette and toilet facilities. The building was revamped in the late 1980s and is described as being in good, but dated, condition.
A large flat-roofed canopy from the side of the building provides an all-weather parking area.

Owner of the property, well-known former car dealer Graeme Eade, sold his business Eade Cars Ltd 10 years ago to his then-manager Mark Finn, who still operates from the site. There is a flexible lease arrangement currently in place and the property could be sold with either vacant possession or a new lease, in liaison with the current tenant.

Eade has a long association with this site going back to the early 1960s when, as a school boy, he cleaned cars there for then-dealer, racing driver Garth Souness. Later, in 1979, Eade opened his own business on the site, sharing the yard space with two other independent dealers before taking over the lease on the entire site a few years later.

Eade says the land had been owned since 1952 by Joan Overton who was given the property as a wedding present by an aunt.

“In those days, it was just a vacant section on the fringes of Auckland and probably only worth a few hundred pounds,” says Eade.

“I recall Mrs Overton telling me that the property first became a car yard after a young chap with the memorable name Billy McGonegal Blake knocked on her door at home in the late 1950s asking if he could rent the block off her to open a car yard – the first in the area I believe.”
When Mrs Overton died in 1993, Jan and Graeme Eade, as sitting tenants, bought the site from her estate.

Eade says that at the height of the market, when car dealers advertised under the generic destination banner of ‘Boulevard of Cars’, there were up to 20 individual dealers in the strip from McDonald’s corner to just past the Triangle Service Station.