Motorsport museum site sale rev’s up interest from property developers

The land and buildings housing one of New Zealand’s most impressive private sports car and motorbike collections in a museum-like format have been placed on the market for sale.

The Pine Harbor Motorsport Museum in the East Auckland suburb of Beachlands houses a priceless collection of New Zealand motorsport history – including:

• A 1928 Auburn Speedster - a class winner in the American Great Race

• A 1977 Yamaha 750CC motorcycle which won the 1977 Isle of Man TT ridden by Joey Dunlop

• A 1959 Cooper Climax T51 driven by motoring legends Sir Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren

• A 1964 JAP Speedway bike ridden by legendary rider Ivan Mauger

• A Ford Cosworth Sierra – which won the classic 1989 Bathurst 1000 when it was driven by Dick Johnson and John Bowe.

The impressive collection is owned by motor racing enthusiast Allan Drinkrow whose companies developed much of the commercial and residential property sites in and around Pine Harbour Marina. Mr Drinkrow leases the museum building in which the automotive memorabilia is showcased.

The 640 square metre building at 40 Ninth View Avenue sits on 1,416 square metres of land zoned for residential terrace housing and apartment buildings under the Auckland Unitary Plan.

The Pine Harbor Motorsport Museum – which is open for viewings to dedicated motoring enthusiasts by appointment only - currently pays an annual rental of $36,442 + GST.

The land and buildings are being marketed for sale at auction on October 25 through Bayleys Manukau. Salespeople Dave Stanley and Nick Bayley said the zoning of the land at 40 Ninth View Avenue meant the property could either be maintained in its current status under the council’s ‘existing use’ clause, or redeveloped into a totally different format.

“While the Pine Harbor Motorsport Museum is a modern and well-constructed purpose-built building which is only five years old, the real value of this site lies in its reconfiguration potential as a terraced unit residential site,” Mr Bayley said.

“Immediately across the road from the side of the museum is a row of three-storey terraced housing units built to make intense use of the land space available. Plans have also been submitted for an apartment complex on a similar corner site some 100 metres away on Ninth View Avenue.

“Meanwhile immediately to the neighbouring side and rear of the Pine Harbor Motorsport Museum building, the flat land is currently used as a storage yard for containers, small boat trailers and industrial piping and metalwork. This land is also zoned for potential higher density residential development.

“The museum is quite content to remain on the site as a tenant generating holding income while the necessary council consents are acquired.”

The existing high beam single storey structure on the site is separated into two distinct areas – an administrative office and staff amenities portion, and the bigger open-plan showroom section.

The building is constructed on reinforced concrete foundations, with precast concrete panels at the rear and steel columns at the front – all on a polished concrete floor. The exterior of the building is extensively glazed with commercial grade aluminium joinery.

Mr Stanley said The Ninth Avenue location overlooked the recreationally-used Pine Harbour Marina. Under the residential terrace housing and apartment building classification, future use of the site allowed for a high-density housing configuration.

“The purpose of the zone is to make efficient use of land and infrastructure, increase the capacity of housing, and to ensure that residents have convenient access to services, employment, education facilities, retail and entertainment opportunities,” Mr Stanley said.

“The zone provides for the greatest density, height and scale of development in all of the residential zones. Residential complexes can be built up to seven storeys high depending on the scale of the surrounding environment.”

ENDS

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