Historic farm placed on the market for sale

One of the oldest and most historic farms in the North Island has been placed on the market for sale.

The 1179 hectare Gwavas Station, which is currently a sheep breeding and intensive bull beef finishing farm in Central Hawke’s Bay, is capable of wintering approximately 13,500 stock units. The farm has been owned by the Hudson family and direct descendants since 1856.

Ownership of the station was last year offered for sale through an equity partnership opportunity – seeking up to 12 equal shareholders taking stakes of between $500,000 and $6million – depending on the number of investors. Farm owners John and Fiona Hudson intended to retain a minimum 30 percent stake in the business.

However, while a number of potential investors registered their serious interest in the equity partnership opportunity, the combined tally fell just short of the $6million target.

Now Gwavas Station is being offered for sale as a going concern. The property is being marketed nationally through Bayleys Real Estate and goes up for sale at auction in the company’s auction rooms on February 18.

Bayleys Hawke’s Bay director Glynn Rees-Jones said that while the Hudson’s original preference was to sell the property through the equity partnership, an outright sale to an individual buyer would now be the more likely successful option.

“Under the equity partnership proposed, John Hudson had planned to continue to managing the property as farm manager and maintaining a shareholding,” he said.
“John now realises that while there was some market appetite for a shareholding structure, there is in fact more demand for whole ownership of the farm, and he has reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is time to sell up and move on from more than 150-years association with the farm.

“It certainly wasn’t a decision made lightly, but it was a decision made after listening to the market – where we had a number of potential buyers expressing an interest in purchasing the whole Gwavas unit if it was offered for sale at an acceptable pricing level.”

Mr Rees-Jones said Gwavas has been developed as an intensive pastoral farm, and was currently subdivided into some 100 main paddocks with an average size of seven hectares - including approximately 300 hectares utilising an intensive grazing system. Cash and fodder cropping activity is also undertaken on the farm.

The Gwavas farm occupies 1001 hectares, while an adjacent 178 hectares is leased by the business under a long-term agreement. Key buildings on the farm include a large homestead dating back to the mid-1800s, along with two other three-bedroom staff homes, a five stand woolshed, three sheep yards and three additional sets of cattle yards.

Gwavas Station will be the first of two big properties going up for auction with Bayleys in Napier on February 18. The second property, Willowford Dairies, is a 536 hectares conversion dairy farm located west of Hastings and Napier cities.
There farm utilises a water reticulation system that saves 125,000 litres of water per day through dairy effluent management - by turning liquid effluent into self sustaining fertiliser production. Willowford is being marketed by Glyn Rees-Jones of Bayleys Hawke’s Bay.

Other infrastructure on Willowford comprises a fully automated 60 bale rotary dairy shed, a purpose-built calf rearing shed, two hay barns, a six bay implement shed, high quality races and irrigators with the ability to cover some 240 hectares. The property is being offered with Fonterra shares, stock and plant at valuation.