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The old primary school in Wellsford that has lay derelict for decades has finally been sold for redevelopment.
The 5,546 square metre site on the corner of School Road and State Highway 1 sold for $1.4 million dollars last month after years of being on and off the market.
Agent Kaye McElwain of Ray White Mangawhai said that in the end, there had been considerable interest and several offers for the property, mainly due to the fact that the vendor had obtained resource consent for a 100-place childcare centre and five 600 square metre residential housing sections in 2019.
“There was lots of interest and many offers,” she said. “It certainly helped that the vendor had gone down the track to get resource consent.
“We were the last of many agents who had it.”
Kaye said she and fellow agent Stewart McElwain had approached the vendor in March, as they had buyers interested in development opportunities in Wellsford.
While she was unwilling to reveal either the vendor’s or purchaser’s identities, she did say she thought something would finally be happening at the site that was first sold by the Ministry of Education around 40 years ago.
“The vendor’s circumstances changed, they moved out of the area, this became a lesser priority, so it was easier for them to sell,” she said. “And the person who bought it, we would like to think they’ll develop it so that it’s of value to Wellsford.”
The old school was owned for many years by the Aronui Trust, a tertiary education provider based in Auckland specialising in hospitality, small business, sport, carpentry, horticulture and indigenous studies. Although renovations were carried out at the site five years ago, nothing eventuated and the buildings once more lay empty, neglected and subject to attacks by vandals.
The school was originally built on the edge of Whakapirau Creek in 1875 and was moved to its School Road site in 1911. The buildings were used as a school until 1990, when students relocated to Wellsford Primary School further down School Road and the Ministry of Education sold the site. The site was valued at $330,000 in 2013.
