A function is being held today — with Deputy Prime Minister and Act Party leader David Seymour the guest speaker — to celebrate the completion of the first and major stage of Queenstown’s first industrial subdivision in more than 10 years.
At Victoria Flats, halfway between Queenstown and Cromwell, The Yards is the creation of prominent developer Dave Henderson, who is based in nearby Gibbston.
Of about 45 sites, some 20 have sold to date to primarily owner-occupiers, including civil construction companies and scaffolding and building businesses.
Titles are due in August.
A big attraction has been both the land cost and the location.
At $2000-plus per square metre, industrial land in Queenstown’s Frankton is the dearest in Australasia.
"That makes it out of reach for a lot of people. So a lot of them have migrated towards Cromwell," says local Colliers commercial broker Alastair Wood, who is marketing The Yards along with colleague James Valentine.
He notes Wānaka industrial is over $1000 per square metre and Cromwell’s land is $500 to $600 per square metre.
"We’re offering land starting at $400 a square metre."
Henderson adds: "It’s just crazy we put people through the gorge to have to go to Cromwell or Alexandra as their base."
He says "it’s been a tough development in many respects, but the reality is doing anything in Queenstown is tough".
"But along the way I’ve also increased the amenity and the specs considerably."
As examples, he says "we’ve put in our own water treatment plant for potable water that’s a higher spec than anything Queenstown’s got, we’ve got our own wastewater plant, which wouldn’t be hard but it’s a higher spec than anything Queenstown’s got.
"We’ve got all the pressured-up fire systems, irrigation water, kerb and channelling, we’ve put down the highest-spec asphalt for that sort of place.
"We’ve made the place look pretty because we want to make it an attractive place to be."
As for the development cost, Henderson says he is a master at blowing budgets — "we’ve certainly blown the budget to get it right".
