Almost five years ago today (Nov 22nd, 2006 to be precise) I posted here about the old Kaipara Dairy Company property in Mill Road. It had just come up for sale, and I asked locals for ideas for the property's future.
Well, the property was sold to a developer, and has basically just sat there slowly disintegrating over the intervening years.
Now, it's up for sale again - at auction on December 7th. The realtor says "it must be sold". The property is valued at just over $2 million, but I suspect it is unlikely anything like that amount will be reached.
I had a very interesting wander around the property a few days ago; it's dilipidated state and colourful grafitti made it very photogenic. I had no idea there were so many separate buildings - about a dozen in in all - of such variety, from the beautifully-tiled original factory buildings to the enormous, high-stud iron shed about the size of a football field.
So what's going to happen to it this time?
There is a dedicated band of locals keen to see the site developed as, among other things, an arts centre and market. Auckland Council does have some funds for this sort of thing, but a whole lot more cash would be needed. Working with the existing buildings would be a very costly exercise.
One prospective purchaser is apparently in the film industry, interested in using the solid concrete buildings as a soundstage. Just think what a boon to the local economy it would be if we could get the movie industry here - maybe we could become the Weta of the north?
Oh, and yes, I realise it's been a fair while since I posted anything here. But then the heading at the top does say "occasional" comments...