The value of industrial building rising in Hawke's Bay, but not in Napier

Friday, 16 March 2018

Napier has fewer large industrial sites and has not had any growth in the value of industrial construction projects.

Strong building in Hawke's Bay's industrial sector appears to be driven by a boom in local horticulture.

Local valuer Turley & Co's latest industrial property survey found the value of industrial building consents rose $14 million over the past two years, compared to the previous two year period.

Pat Turley called Villa Maria's Hawke's Bay expansion 'spectacular'.

The resurgence in kiwifruit sales and strong activity in the apple industry were singled out as reasons behind several of the new developments.

The 18 per cent increase in consent value took the total value of projects in the area from $77m for 2014 to 2015 to $91m for 2016 to 2017.

Winemaker Delegat Group's $27.2m winery build followed an acquisition of farm land from Hopkins Farming Group.

Growth in horticulture is responsible for a lot of the new industrial construction.

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Turley principal Pat Turley expected the regional impact to be much higher because consent values only reflected the construction cost not additional land and plant investments.

Turley singled out the Heretaunga Plains as a key area in the development boom.

Five major developments for food handling or processing, manufacturing and storage facilities were valued at $68m.

They included Delegat Winery's $27.2m winery opposite the sports park on the Hawke's Bay Expressway, and Villa Maria's Te Awa Estate Winery's $13.5m expansion.

Turley called the Delegat Winery expansion 'Hawke's Bay's best-looking and highest quality industrial development'.

There was also Apollo Foods' $9.9m processing facility in Whakatu, Sunfruit Orchards' $9.5m apple packing and storage facility at Irongate south of Hastings, and Hustler Motus' $7.5m spent to add hydraulic-powered machinery to their food production site.

Growth in Napier was 'much more constrained than Hastings, where large industrial sites are more abundant', the report found.

Consent values remained the same in Napier at $13m for 2014 to 2015, and 2016 to 2017.

Unlike elsewhere in the country, Hawke's Bay bare industrial land was in good supply, he said.

Another area of potential new development was Whakatu, between Napier and Hastings.

A $26m arterial link was expected to be completed at the end of this year.

The 3.5 kilometre route starts at State Highway 2 and heads across the fields through Whakatu to Pakowhai Rd.

It is the largest road project in Hawke's Bay since the construction of the Napier-Hastings Expressway in 2002.

There are several pending consents that, if approved, would add millions to the amount of money being spent on construction in the area.

These include an $80m dairy factory and goat milk processing plant in Waipawa for NZ Dairy products' infant formula production line.

There is also Auckland based Fresco Nutrition's proposal for a $30m spray drying and canning facility in Hawke's Bay, and San Francisco Intrepid Semiconductor's re-opening of a former freezing works in Dannevirke.