Wellington’s premier residential development site up for grabs

A once-in-a-lifetime chance to master-plan a significant residential development on a large land holding in Karori, Wellington, is on offer through CBRE.

Regarded as Wellington’s premier development site, the block (originally home to the Wellington Teachers’ Training College) spans 3.05 hectares of vacant land between Donald Street and Campbell Street.

CBRE Director Dharmendra Mistry, who is offering the site for sale via an Expressions of Interest campaign along with colleagues Rick Stace and Matthew St Amand, said it is an ‘exceptional’ opportunity for residential developers to provide much-needed additional housing into the Wellington market. 

“This is one of the largest residential sites available for development in Wellington’s central suburbs. It’s a highly significant opportunity to plan a development which contributes a meaningful volume of new housing stock into the city, at a time when new homes are desperately needed.”

The medium density residential-zoned site is ideally suited to development; with dual street access points, easy contours and district plan permission to build up to 11 metres high. This opens up the potential to construct townhouses of up to three storeys as of right.

The location is also highly favourable, with the popular suburb of Karori having long been a sought-after residential location close to the Wellington CBD and with multiple local amenities, said Stace.

“Large scale development sites in desirable locations like this are rarely available, presenting the chance to develop housing in a well-established, large residential suburb with parks, schools, supermarkets, food outlets and bus stops already on the doorstep.”

The site offers developers a significant opportunity to provide new housing through a variety of options, including a combination of medium-density semi-detached homes, terraced homes and low-rise apartments.

Resource consent was granted in 2022 for a 307-unit retirement village on the site, opening up an immediate opportunity for the new owner to progress those plans, St Amand said.

“The existing consent provides further options for the new owner, who may choose to proceed with the previously-planned aged care development. This is expected to be an attractive value proposition for buyers looking to move ahead quickly on a streamlined development path.”

The consented plans cover the development of a variety of aged care housing options. These include independent living apartments, assisted living suites and care rooms across multiple buildings between one and seven storeys high. 

As well as the construction of new facilities, the plans include the refurbishment of existing buildings along the site’s north-eastern boundary on Donald Street. These buildings; the Allen Ward VC Hall, Tennant Block and part of the Oldershaw Building, date back to the establishment of the Wellington Teachers’ Training College in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Apart from the existing buildings and a car park area, the rest of the site is free of buildings and ready for development, with several established trees creating an attractive backdrop for new housing.

Karori is regarded as an excellent location for housing development, located just 4km from the Wellington CBD and well serviced by bus routes and amenities including parks, childcare, schools, supermarkets, food outlets and convenience retail. It is the largest suburb in Wellington in terms of total housing stock. Karori is also home to Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, Wellington’s top-ranked private school.