Former golf course on the market

Former golf course sections a fairway off their original values

Residential sections bordering what was formerly zoned to be a nine hole Jack Nicholas-designed golf course as part of the Kinloch links near Taupo have been placed up sale – with prices at just 25 percent of their levels heading into the peak of the property market.

The 54 site subdivision adjacent to the prestigious Kinloch Golf Course overlooking Lake Taupo was originally designed to be built around nine of the facility’s 27 holes designed by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. The subdivision had been developed under the name Links Nine.

However, when course developer Kinloch Golf Resort Ltd went into receivership in 2007, sales of the sections ceased. The sections and land for the Links Nine course were bought out of receivership by FE Kinloch Ltd which has spent the subsequent year preparing the titles for sale, and removing the titles from the original Kinloch Golf Resort owner’s association. The company is now focusing attention on selling down the totally unrelated sections.

The new subdivision is named The Poplars. Plots at The Poplars range in size from 1771 square metres to 2692 square metres, and vary in price from $120,000 to $160,000. When first released to the market in 2005, the same sections in what is now known as The Poplars subdivision were offered for sale at up to $650,000.

The sites are being marketed by Bayleys Taupo. Salesperson Helen Webb said the massive price reductions were indicative of a frenzied market in the mid-2000s, but also now reflected a truer indication of their value in a more subdued and circumspect economic climate.

“When these sections were first brought to the market, they were being sold as part of the international golf course – so they came with membership packages and affiliations to the course’s hospitality venues which would have been a huge yearly cost to owners. Now, the sections within The Poplars, and the golf course with its amenities, are totally separate entities,” Ms Webb said.

“As such, the land is being sold simply for what it is - land. Similarly, as the golf course is now totally unrelated to the subdivision, the previously restrictive building covenants no longer apply to houses planned within The Poplars.

“To the best of my knowledge, there are certainly no similarly sized bare land blocks for sale in Taupo Central for anywhere near $120,000.”

The 54 sections are entwined around what was supposed to be a nine hole par three course, available as an adjunct to the main 18 hole course. Initial landscaping work was undertaken, although the holes and greens were never fully developed through to a playable state.

For the last three years, the undeveloped golf course land had been leased to a local farmer for grazing livestock. The roading infrastructure servicing the subdivision has been maintained to preserve the integrity of the underground utilities installed in preparation for residential building to begin and is in a brand new state.

Ms Webb said the land assigned to the golf holes would be retained by FE Kinloch Ltd – with the potential to either further develop the contoured landscape into 13 large two-hectare plots, or to vest the land in perpetuity to the residents association which would ultimately oversee dwellings in The Poplars subdivision.

In line with the new pricing valuations on the sections, former building covenants stringently dictating dwelling size and construction and also design of homes have also been removed from The Poplars sections being sold.

New covenants specify that any homes constructed within The Poplars must be at least 150 square metres in size including the garage, must be ‘new’ builds, and that sections can not be subdivided to allow for minor dwellings to be erected.

Ms Webb said that feedback from prospective section buyers who had viewed the subdivision over the past month was that new-built homes were “an absolute given” and that many people envisaged building homes of at least 180 – 200 square metres.

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