Earth Group

Originally a town, then a borough in its own right, Taradale officially merged with Napier in 1968. Now one of the city's largest suburbs, located only 8 kilometres from the downtown CBD, it is increasingly proving to be a magnet for families - many of whom are selling up elsewhere in Hawke's Bay in order to move there.

At the moment, more than 70 new dwellings are being constructed in the Guppy Road subdivision and practically all have been pre-sold. New streets are being laid down and landscaped and Sotheby's International Realty's Bill Tawhai says that while this, along with other new developments, is helping relieve pressure, it's not going to be nearly enough.

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Professionals make up the biggest group of Taradale home-owners, in terms of occupation, and cultural diversity is increasing. The median sale price has risen from $430,000 in 2017 to $522,000.

There are many reasons for its recent surge in popularity. Bill Tawhai says that a lot of it is down to its reputation as a pleasant, safe and secure neighbourhood.

"And that's quite true. Once it was regarded as an old people's place but that's certainly not the case now. It's attracting lots of younger people, although first-home-buyers might find it a bit tough."

He confirms that while there are certainly Aucklanders looking for a lifestyle change in the market, the majority of potential purchasers in Taradale are local.

"We're on a real high here, and I can't see that stopping any time soon."

At Taradale's heart is Napier's biggest suburban shopping centre, recently upgraded and boasting around 140 businesses.

The suburb is spoilt for amenities with a number of public reserves: Otatara Pa is a major archaeological site that still bears the remains of terraces and food pits, while Dolbel Reserve has been developed into a tree park. Sugar Loaf is the highest hill in Taradale with spectacular views across the suburb and beyond, while Anderson Park was formerly a racecourse and served as a triage area following the devastating Napier earthquake of February 1931.

Pettigrew Green Arena, an indoor sporting complex, also hosts local events such as home and garden shows, and Napier Council recently added to the Taipo Stream walkway with a new leg starting in Balmoral Road and coming out on to Church Road. Local cycle routes are also being embraced enthusiastically by fitness lovers.

Of course, Taradale is - most famously - home to the celebrated Church Road Winery, and the Mission Estate Winery, where grapes were first planted in the mid-eighteenth century in order to make altar wine for colonial worshippers. Mission Estate is the scene of regular summer music concerts with big-name international stars dropping by. Both of these wineries enjoy high public profiles and attract thousands of visitors to the area each year.

A Sunday Market at Taradale RSA showcases the Hawke's Bay region's food producers, dog owners can enjoy exercising their canine friends at Ruff Ruff Woof dog park, and on one of Taradale's main streets you'll find what locals believe to be the only Art Deco McDonalds burger outlet in the world!

Napier's biggest suburb is set to expand even more with earthworks under way on another eagerly anticipated housing development in Taradale.

A total of 73 houses are expected to be built at the Guppy Rd subdivision, which is being backed by a number of people, including former Charlie's Juice co-founder Stefan Lepionka's Earth Group.

After flying in from his Auckland base this week, Mr Lepionka said there had been "huge demand" for the sections, with nearly all of them sold.

"Our approach to Earth Group is a land development company with the same ethos behind Charlie's - 'Not from Concentrate' - that's offering a quality product to the market which we believe was wanted and desired.

"Taradale is a great family suburb with good access to shopping, schooling and community facilities which we believed would be in demand. The demand and uptake for sections we have received demonstrates this."

Mr Lepionka praised Napier council's efforts to ensure the development went ahead smoothly.

"The site was appropriately zoned for residential use, however there had never up to now been a meeting of the minds in terms of willing buyer, willing seller. We were fortunate enough to land on a deal that worked for all parties."

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton welcomed progress on the development.

"We're pleased to see a development such as this happening in Napier. It's a reflection of the changing needs of our population."

With another 65 houses due to be built as part of a separate retirement village development, (being carried out by Napier developers Simon Tremain and Cam Ward), also on Guppy Rd, Mr Dalton said the future of the city's biggest suburb was "assured".

"One development is on the seaward side of Meeanee Rd and the other is on the river side of Meeanee Rd. Taradale is our biggest domestic suburb - and of course you have the Mission development on the hills - so the future of Taradale is assured and these projects are just really exciting. The interesting thing is, that there are a lot of people from out of town who are making enquiries for these properties.

"I have a whole bunch of people telling me they want an elevated site but a lot of people don't want an elevated site, so it's a case of catering for all needs."

More than $17 million of land at a high-end housing development has been snapped up within five months, leaving room for only seven more families to join one of Taradale's newest and most internationally diverse neighbourhoods.

The development provides continuing confidence in the regional economy and follows news this week from Statistics New Zealand, which shows the Hawke's Bay's regional gross domestic product rose $342m for the year ended March 2017.

This means the Hawke's Bay economy is now worth $7.4 billion.

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The $375m contribution from the region's booming construction industry noted in the statistics provided a $20m jump from the previous year and represented an all-time high.

All up, 73 houses are expected to be built at the Guppy Rd subdivision, which is being backed by people including former Charlie's Juice co-founder Stefan Lepionka's Earth Group.

If all 73 sections receive residential building consent for just one house per section, it would represent almost a third of the total number of building consents granted by Napier City Council in the whole of last year.

Harcourts agent Bryan Fulton said initial sections on the two-stage development started selling in October and the remaining seven sections are now for sale at stated prices from him and Brenda Fulton.

"There's just a few remaining, which are largely along the back boundary, so we are now getting towards the end of the process", Mr Fulton said.

"Groundwork is well under way and we're hoping to have some street layouts in within the next few days.

"There are already five waiting to put floors down now as soon as builders' titles are issued. They have indicated they hope to have them started in early April."

Mr Fulton said the sections have been sold to a diverse range of buyers.

"We've sold to a few of the smaller, local independent builders. The majority have been sold to locals and a few out-of-town people that are embracing the value of buying in Taradale."

At least three had been sold to Aucklanders moving to Hawke's Bay for the lifestyle, but there was also " a nice mixture" of people of different nationalities making purchases, he said.

"It's been really lovely, it will be like Parklands Estate, with a real mixture of people and age groups, which will make for a really nice community.

"It's the biggest development in Taradale for many years. So it's great to have two new streets going in there and all these new houses."

Mr Fulton said previous sections had sold from between $260,000 to $300,000, with sizes ranging from 512sq m up to 740sq m.

The remaining sites were expected to sell soon after the Easter holiday.