A substantial Timaru landholding on the corner of Woollcombe and Barnard Sts is for sale for the first time in 36 years, offering developers and investors a front-row seat to one of South Canterbury’s biggest regeneration projects.

The property at 23-27 Barnard St and 11 Woollcombe St has been a family-run mechanical and engine overhaul services business with showrooms, workshops and a yard since 2006.

With vacant possession now on offer, the site was ripe for redevelopment to capitalise on what was happening right next door, Colliers Investment sales broker Michael Lough said in a statement.

Timaru District Council is restoring the historic Theatre Royal in Stafford St as the city’s main performance and community events venue and constructing a new museum, Te Kura Marumaru South Canterbury Museum, behind it on Barnard St.

The project is due for completion in December and places the Barnard and Woollcombe Sts corner directly alongside one of Timaru’s most significant cultural investments in decades.

“You’ve got a major development right on the doorstep and that is a drawcard for buyers thinking beyond the current use of this central-city site,” Mr Lough said.

“It’s an opportunity for a broad range of buyers such as developers, add-value purchasers, investors and owner-occupiers.”

Zoned Commercial 1B, the site is being offered as an ‘as is, where is’ opportunity across eight titles.

There’s flexibility for commercial, mixed-use or redevelopment projects, including the potential for a high-density residential project subject to necessary consents.

“The possibility of bringing more density housing into the central city as a part of its rejuvenation is an exciting prospect,” Mr Lough said.

The property will be offered for sale by auction at 10am on September 17 at the Colliers Auction Room in Central Christchurch, unless sold prior. — Allied Media