The family is selling a large block of land and buildings in the central business district in Oamaru from where the late George Gillies established extensive business and commercial holdings in Oamaru and other areas, including Lower Hutt.
The 13,665sq m site is probably the largest commercial area in private ownership in central Oamaru and has a rateable value of $2.538 million.
Except for one building at 66 Ribble St, which is owned by Spelean NZ Ltd, the land makes up about two-thirds of the block fronting Thames St and between Ribble and Dee Sts.
It includes extensive commercial and industrial buildings, most rented out, and also some vacant land and is being sold through real estate agents Bayleys, with tenders closing on March 31.
At one stage in the 1970s and 1980s, the Gillies family owned the foundry in Tyne St, two car dealerships, allied motor trades, electrical contractors and appliance showroom, engineering, service stations and manufacturing plants, which included producing the Mackay space heater and then modern log and solid fuel burners.
The Thames-Ribble-Dee St block is being offered for sale as one parcel, but is divided into 17 titles.
Bayleys' agent Robin Hyndman said the land parcel offered a prospective buyer numerous options, from retaining the existing titles as rental properties, most of which were occupied, through to redevelopment or selling off some titles and redeveloping others.
George T. Gillies arrived in Oamaru from Dunedin in June 1920 to start a Dodge Brothers car dealership.
He set up his dealership in the block now being sold on Thames St that was still metalled and, after heavy rain, trucks would get stuck.
In 1923, he put in the first visible petrol pump in New Zealand.
From there, his commercial interests grew, Mr Gillies' faith in North Otago demonstrated when he expanded the business before the end of the depression, including building a new 465sq m showroom.
In the same year, an electrical department was opened in the same block.
The department handled a wide range of contracts, including private hydro-electricity generation schemes in remote parts of New Zealand.
In 1943, Gillies bought the North Otago Engineering Company's foundry in Tyne St, throughout the following decades modernising it with new buildings and installing machinery to keep pace with technology.
The Gillies name popped up throughout New Zealand on such things as manhole covers bought by local authorities.
The company also owned Gay's Oamaru stone quarry, making and then installing modern machinery to improve production and quality.
The car dealerships owned by Gillies reflected the changing face of New Zealand motoring.
Starting with Dodge, Gillies then had the agency for New Zealand Motor Corporation, selling Morris, Austin and Wolseley brands, then eventually Honda, when the focus shifted to Japanese cars.
The company also had the Nissan dealership.
Mr Gillies was an entrepreneur before the word was in common use.
That is best reflected by his decision to buy hundreds of surplus multi-wheel drive army trucks and bren gun carriers, and the land they sat on in Lower Hutt after World War 2.
Over a period of decades, he was still selling the trucks, popular with farmers in remote areas because of their abilities. The land at Lower Hutt was developed.
Some of the trucks were stored for years on a site at the corner of Thames and Usk Sts, now occupied by the KFC outlet. Mr Gillies died in 1984.
