For 35 years, Honda’s flagship red and white branding has adorned a premium site along one of central Wellington’s busiest arterial routes, but the landmark property is now on the market, presenting an unrivalled opportunity for developers, investors, and owner-occupiers.

Honda plans to move most of the sales operations of its vehicle dealership to the Hutt Valley while retaining a presence in Wellington city with a sales and service centre in Hania Street.

The flagship 3,917sqm site at 61 Kent Terrace, Mt Victoria, takes pride of place in the city’s premier precinct for automotive dealerships and related businesses. On-site improvements of 3,050sqm include the recently refurbished showroom with modern offices, and a two-level workshop building with vehicle ramp access from Hania Street.

The 1,000sqm double-stud main showroom with offices has prime street presence to Kent Terrace. The 760sqm workshop to the rear has 10 hoist bays and an additional 123sqm low-stud storage with roller door access. Above this sits a 760sqm fully equipped service workshop with convenient drive-on access via a ramp on the southern side of the site. The 1,515sqm yard space is currently utilised as a car yard offering display opportunities and easy vehicle circulation, and there is dedicated staff and customer parking to the rear.

The land is zoned City Centre and has a 28.5m height limit, with this underlying zoning supporting future development prospects. Being sold with vacant possession, the property has an assessed potential net annual income of $1,029,100 plus GST.

Mark Walker, Sarah Lyford, and Mark Hourigan of Bayleys Wellington Commercial have been appointed by Honda New Zealand to sell 61 Kent Terrace, with tenders closing Wednesday 24th September.

Walker says landholdings with the scale offered by this Kent Terrace offering seldom come to the market in the city, and it’s a generational opportunity.

“The Honda site has real substance and with almost 4,000sqm of land, dual street access, favourable zoning, and sunny aspect on the preferred side of the terraces, we’re expecting strong interest from large-scale owner-occupiers, investors and developers. The market will be sitting up and strategising how to use it going forward.

“While undeniably a well-performing automotive sales site and easily adaptable to bulk retail and other commercial uses, the underlying and inherent value of the landholding really underpins the asset, giving it unprecedented redevelopment potential with residential or mixed-use development the obvious contender.”

Walker says development entities are back in the market scoping opportunities off the back of interest rate drops, and news that the government is opening up construction material supply chains for cost efficiencies and better competition.

“The big players are hard at work nailing down a forward pipeline of residential stock to capitalise on the expected market upswing as the real estate cycle moves into another gear.

“Gibbons Co has big plans for the former Tip Top factory site in Adelaide Road, and other developers are circling for sites with scale. They don’t come much better than this Kent Terrace opportunity, so we’re expecting significant enquiry.”