Inside a warehouse at Izone

Just 12 minutes from Christchurch’s Hornby industrial area, Izone Southern Business Hub combines state-of-the-art infrastructure with a pivotal location, flexible boundaries, and lower rates and land prices.

Siting your business at Izone makes commercial sense in every respect.

Tailoring Land Outcomes

Izone specialises in assisting clients to optimise their land use by tailoring boundaries to best fit their site size and dimension requirements. Our aim is to help you achieve an optimal building footprint and avoid unnecessary capital outlay on surplus land.

Izone is subject to a specific Business ‘2A’ zoning within the Selwyn District Plan. This provides for business activities requiring large footprint buildings and/or sites, and is subject to controls that recognise the unique characteristics of Izone, including the use of a single Outline Development Plan.

No Development Contributions

Development contributions can amount to several hundred thousand dollars and are charged by many district councils to offset the cost of the increased demand on local water, stormwater, wastewater and roading systems.

The amount of contribution required is typically assessed at the time the building consent application is lodged, and must be paid as a prerequisite to issuing a code of compliance certificate.

In all cases development contributions represent a major component of any new project budget.

The good news at Izone is that Selwyn District Council does not charge a contribution on new industrial and commercial buildings.

Master-Planned Industrial Property Outcomes

Covering 188 hectares, Izone has land developed, zoned and ready to bring services and infrastructure into development.

The fully master-planned, greenfield site is currently home to more than 120 companies involved mostly in manufacturing, contracting, warehousing and logistics, and servicing Canterbury’s significant agricultural sector. They've committed to Izone due to its state-of-the-art infrastructure, pivotal location and stable alluvial soils.

Izone specialises in assisting clients to optimise their use of land by tailoring boundaries to best fit site size and dimension requirements.

The development’s ownership by Selwyn District Council ensures affordable land prices, low annual rates and favourable district plan rules. These include: no development levies, no maximum site cover, and no restrictions on the generation of traffic movements.

District Plan

The development’s ownership by Selwyn District Council ensures commercially favourable district plan rules that include: no development levies, maximum site cover requirements, or restrictions on the generation of traffic movements.

No maximum site cover

The Izone development includes no maximum site cover, which means that after making provision for landscaping, car parking and stormwater disposal, the balance of the land can be brought into development. In contrast, some industrial zones in Christchurch City have maximum site coverage requirements ranging from 25%-50%.

No traffic generator restrictions

There are no restrictions on the generation of traffic movements. This compares very favourably with the Christchurch City Plan’s ‘high traffic generator’ rule which captures (and requires a resource consent for) any activity requiring more than 25 car parks or generating more than 250 vehicle trips per day.

Landscaping

While Christchurch’s industrial zones require 7.5-20% of a site to be landscaped, the only landscaping requirement at Izone applies to the road frontage.

Permissive retail activity provision

Izone has a relatively permissive retail activity provision; any retail activity at Izone is permitted provided it occupies 20% or less of the gross floor area of building on that allotment or 2,000m2, whichever is the lesser. In contrast, the Business 5 (General Industrial) Zone in Christchurch City limits retail activity to 20% of the net floor area on the premises used to produce, process or store those goods, or 350m2 retail floor space, whichever is the lesser.

Realistic noise standards

Internal noise standards at Izone apply only at its rural zone boundary. In contrast, in Christchurch City, land uses on industrial zoned sites are still required to comply with the applicable standards at their individual site boundaries.

Affordability

Companies looking for properties in Canterbury have to justify their purchase against tight economic criteria.

Izone’s low land costs, low rates and available workforce have contributed to more than 160ha being sold. Independent industry surveys confirm Izone has the cheapest industrial land in the greater Christchurch area.

  • Commercial and water rates in Selwyn are significantly lower than in Christchurch City
  • Izone is set up for industry and there are no development contributions. This is a significant cost advantage.

Planning, consenting & construction made easy

The District Plan is developer-friendly and Izone is located outside of Environment Canterbury’s clean air zone.

Izone’s management by a professional property development firm means significant efficiencies are possible in the planning, consenting and construction phases. Our experience means we can help you negotiate the planning and resource consents process.

Geotechnical investigations confirm that, due to deep groundwater levels, the ground beneath Izone has low potential for liquefaction or lateral spreading. These favourable ground conditions allow for low-cost foundation design. Izone is also considered an acceptable location by insurers with regard to contract works insurance and ongoing cover.

Space

As a large greenfield development, Izone has the space and flexibility to tailor land outcomes to requirements.

Meanwhile the non-congested location, to the south of Christchurch, brings its own benefits.

A combination of easy access, dual entry options from State Highway One and plenty of on-site room for trucks to make and receive deliveries, remove the logistics headaches that come with many inner city industrial developments.

In addition, Izone’s land bank, means resident businesses are able to future proof their growth.

State-of-the-art Infrastructure

Master planning of this entire land holding was undertaken by the Auckland office of Harrison Grierson. The master plan recognises global urban design trends, translated to New Zealand circumstances.

Taking a best practice approach to industrial infrastructure, the Izone development includes:

  • Wide roads and carefully designed traffic management systems
  • A network of walkways, native plantings, landscaping and attractive communal areas
  • Reticulated gas available to all lot boundaries
  • Its own rail sidings.

Good neighbours

More than 120 companies in the manufacturing, construction, logistics and agricultural sectors have made Izone home.

Neighbours include The Warehouse’s South Island Distribution Centre (the largest building in the South Island), Westland Milk Products, PGG Wrightson Seeds, Port Of Tauranga, Solid Energy, Designline Bus Pacific, Pegasus Engineering, Moffats, as well as numerous smaller operators such as Canterbury Frames and Trusses, Permbrand and CRONZ.

Supportive Council

Izone’s owner, Selwyn District Council, is a supportive and highly progressive local authority.

Economically, the region has consistently ranked among New Zealand’s top five best performing regions since 2008.

In addition to having the foresight to develop New Zealand’s largest master-planned industrial park, SDC has also invested in several design/build and lease back packages for Izone-based companies.