The greenfield 1.6-hectare (subject to survey) flat contoured block is located on the edge of Morrinsville township near the intersection of Kereone and Morrinsville-Walton roads close to Kiwi Rail’s container transfer station. The North Island main trunk rail line runs along the back of the site.

Located 33 kilometres from Hamilton, and a 35-minute drive from the city, Morrinsville – along with Cambridge and Te Awamutu – is one of the satellite townships attracting industrial buildings and tenants looking for cheaper land and premises outside of metropolitan Hamilton.

Matamata Piako District Council's Town Strategies 2013-2033 Morrinsville document spotlights a demand for the development of 13 hectares of business-sustaining land in and around Morrinsville by 2033.

Public records show an adjoining 4.8 hectare predominantly greenfield block of flat land on the Kereone Road – with two workshop structures located on it – sold for $3.3 million at the end of last year.

Now the vacant freehold land at 42 Kereone Road has been placed on the market for sale at auction on March 18 through Bayleys Hamilton. Salesperson Josh Smith said that as an undeveloped block with an extensive street frontage onto Kereone Road, there were multiple permutations any new owner could explore to develop or subdivide the location.

“The size of the section means it is capable of housing any permutation of premises – such as a substantial warehousing or industrial building, or could just as easily be split up into smaller sites to sustain the likes of terraced tradie workshops and storage warehousing,” Smith said.

“As industrial land values rise in Hamilton’s northern and southern urban boundaries - and space availability concurrently decreases - a growing number of companies are looking for more cost-effective alternatives in the satellite townships of Te Awamutu, Morrinsville, and Cambridge.

“The connecting roads close by the premises deliver an ease of access to Waikato’s state highway network, and indeed its further reaches to the major ports of Auckland and Tauranga. That’s a factor which has already been recognised by other industrial tenants along the industrial use zoned Kereone Road – such as JK Engineering and Allied Concrete.

“Being located on the edge of Morrinsville’s central business district, tenant businesses along Kereone Road avoid issues such as traffic congestion yet have the convenience of being just minutes away from retail amenities.”

Morrinsville's population of more than 7,000 residents is expected to increase to 8,800 people living in 3,768 homes by 2033. The Matamata Piako District Council's Town Strategies 2013-2033 Morrinsville report anticipates that if demand for industrial land continues at current rates, supply would start to run out within 12 years.

The report points out that the council is keen to minimise the encroachment of industrial precincts onto farm land – and would rather that development be concentrated within the town’s existing urban-zoned ‘footprint’, particularly in the vicinity of existing rail links and major transport routes.

“The land for sale at Kereone Road precisely meets all of those council requirements,” said Smith.

“South of the main town, industrial development has focused on two locations in Morrinsville – Bolton Road, and the Morrinsville-Walton Road, both of which are the preferred destinations to locate new heavy industry tenancies which are less dependent on passing trade or general public customer contact.

“With freight movements forecast to be predominantly from and to the west in the direction of Hamilton, these locations will minimise the need for heavy vehicles to travel through the central town.”