Mr Hall confirmed he was dusting off a 50-year-old proposal to chop up part of his farm, next to the YouthGrow Garden Centre, which is zoned residential.
''I might decide to pull the plug and keep farming for a few more years ... it has been planned since the 1960s. You can't rush these things. It will happen, whether I am alive or dead, it will happen.''
He said there was a need for more sections in Dunedin with only 222 sold in the last 12 years.
The area had been zoned residential since his family bought the block in the 1960s.
What made the project difficult was that the residential-zoned land was a critical part of the 200ha farm. If he developed all of it he would only be able to move stock from one side of the farm to the other using a truck.
He said there had been a lot of people on the site taking photos, so they must have found out what was happening.
Cutting down trees and generally ''tidying up'' of the site had been taking place in recent weeks but Mr Hall said he was due to meet surveyors this week to discuss the project and he had not made a decision.
He would need consents for earthworks, drainage and access roads.
