NZ exchange rate, pre-approved waterfront rights attract foreign investors to Omarino

AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Aug. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Safe, stable, scenic countries like New Zealand have long attracted foreign property investors, and the state of New Zealand’s dollar -- still hovering at a 5-year low: USD$.66 as of 15 August -- has only underlined that attraction of late. But there are things that even money cannot buy. Kiwi beaches head that list and, with very few exceptions, the government here maintains these riparian rights in order to preserve public ownership and access.

The Omarino project is one of those rare exceptions. Marketed exclusively through Auckland-based Legacy Partners (www.legacypartners.co.nz), Omarino is a private, gated community in the Bay of Islands where 17 north-facing home sites come with these coveted riparian rights pre-approved by the Overseas Investment Office. According to Legacy’s Jim Rohrstaff, home sites here range from 12 to 25 acres in size and are priced from 4 million NZD.

“At that price point, with the NZ dollar performing so weakly against major foreign currencies, these are honestly some of the best buys in worldwide, luxury real estate, when you compare them to comparable first-world properties -- the Hamptons, Hawaii -- and consider the riparian rights,” Rohrstaff said. “Each home site has its own private bay, headland and/or commanding, grandstand views. The images are extraordinary, but they don’t do the place justice frankly. There’s just so little property of this kind remaining anywhere in the developed world.”

New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office (OIO) is the governmental body charged with regulating the foreign purchase of real estate. OIO approval is something foreign buyers must invariably secure in order to consummate any property sale along the country’s long, exquisite coastline. If a particular property touches “sensitive” land (essentially, land with ocean or lake frontage) and it exceeds .2 of a hectare in size, government approval from the Overseas Investment Office is required before that sale, to any overseas buyer, can be approved.

“There’s a great deal of misinformation floating around re. how the OIO process works, and how difficult these approvals are to obtain,” said Legacy’s Michael Pleciak. “On our website, we pass along news of these approvals, each month. Indeed, we’re quite proud of our track record in this area, and Omarino is a fine example.”

Legacy Partners enjoy the exclusive authority to market the real estate assets of the New Zealand Land Fund (New Zealand Land Fund 2 GP Limited), which is dedicated to the prudent development of prime oceanfront, mountain and lake property throughout the North and South islands. In addition to Omarino, Legacy Partners are involved with several other notable projects, across New Zealand:

• Te Arai, a 1,400-acre, beach-front property (located 75 minutes drive from Auckland’s central business district) that serves as backdrop to the new Tara Iti Golf Club, slated to open for member play in October.

• Glendhu Bay, a 187-hectare development on the sandy shores of Lake Wanaka, where sites/residences will soon be available, and construction of a resort golf course is poised to commence.

• Henley Farm, with its 3 km of frontage on Lake Wakatipu, just 15 minutes from Queenstown. Sites are now available here, on the lake’s last large parcel so close to Queenstown.

• Te Punga Farm, a 900-acre parcel located 2.5 hours’ drive east of Auckland, on New Chums and Whangapoua beaches. Sites and residences are available.

“Our firm also represents other New Zealand vendors in the marketing of premium property to purchasers both domestic and overseas,” Pleciak explained. “These are bespoke services tailored to the specific needs of individual clients -- our work at Omarino is a good example.”

Located in the country’s subtropical Northland region, some 3 hours’ drive north of Auckland (45 minutes by helicopter), Omarino sits at the crossroads of New Zealand’s history and enduring physical beauty. The nearest town, Russell, served as the nation’s first capital and remains a particularly stunning, lively example of a Kiwi maritime community.

For more than 100 years, the Omarino property -- known as Rawhiti Station -- was farmed by a variety of local owners. American John Bentzen purchased the land in 1969, though it was never developed in the formal sense. In 2001, Craig Heatley, one of New Zealand’s renowned entrepreneurs, purchased the property and set aside part of the farm for development: 17 home sites, each with services and entry roads now in place; helipad; and a community clubhouse called the Shearer’s Quarters, with its own jetty and 17 boats sheds. Current ownership has re-vegetated the property with more than 1 million tree plantings. Two hectares have also been set aside as a haven for the nationally endangered New Zealand Brown Teal duck.

New Zealand has made international real estate headlines (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2931325/Super-ric...) of late, as a succession of wealthy foreigners has invested in expensive, secluded properties across the country. Yet those seeking a “bolthole” by the sea are invariably frustrated by the pro forma forfeiture of their riparian rights, as part of OIO approval.

“That’s why the opportunities at Omarino -- OIO pre-approval, subject to a good character test -- are so extraordinary,” Rohrstaff said. “Even if someone could find waterfront properties as spectacular and advantageously situated as those now available at Omarino, the foreign buyer would be obliged to forfeit those riparian rights as part of the OIO approval process. At Omarino, that’s not the case.

“We in the real estate business deal in ‘comps’ -- properties of comparable quality and value. We feel confident in saying that few properties of this quality and value remain available anywhere in the developed world. When one factors in the inclusion of riparian rights, and the community that has taken shape here, Omarino is nearly incomparable.”

For more information on Legacy Partners Ltd., visit www.legacypartners.co.nz, or contact them at +64 9 309 3838.