Strategic North Shore Commercial And Residential Development Site Goes Up For Receivership Sale

One of the biggest and most strategic commercial properties on Auckland’s North Shore – with council approval to build a substantial residential development - is up for sale through a receivership tender process.

The 8000 square metres of prime Takapuna real estate has sensational views over Takapuna Beach – with additional street frontages on the retail hub of Hurstmere Road and The Strand.

The property is being marketed by Bayleys Real Estate on behalf of receivers, Korda Mentha, with tenders closing on February 25. Bayleys senior sales consultant Michael Pleciak said the property was currently returning a gross annual rental income in excess of $1.2million per annum from three separate revenue streams – retail and office tenants, and a car parking operation.

Click to enlarge

The site currently consisted of Tower Building – a 2662 square metre two level configuration with 35 car parks and three retail shops on Hurstmere Road. Next door is the Autosure Building – 1628 square metres of office and retail amenities sited around a plaza style retail plan, Mr Pleciak said.

“At present, there are some vacant spaces within both buildings which could be readily occupied for either retail or commercial office usage by companies having to restructure as part of the current economic downturn,” he said.

“Such an occupancy improvement will deliver potential upside for rental revenues when let to their optimum capacity. There is considerable potential for improving cash-flow from both properties by taking advantage of leasing opportunities.”

Mr Pleciak said there were also approved resource consent plans to substantially expand the retail capacity of the Autosure Building. From the existing Hurstmere Road retail frontage the refurbished new plaza will have four retail tenancies – with two new tenancies having plaza frontage – and an escalator at the rear leading to a lower ground floor facing onto The Strand.

“The balance of the site to the east of the existing improvements comprises an extensive sealed car park with good sea views over Takapuna Beach. This landholding occupies a sound position within the Takapuna CBD in an attractively landscaped and maintained environment,” he said.

“This is where the ‘gold mine’ potential of this landholding lies long term – with scope to substantially redevelop the area into a major commercial/residential or mixed use building subject to council approval. Such a redevelopment would change the shape of the area in a way that the Spencer on Byron has done for the accommodation sector, or The Sentinel has done for high rise luxury apartment living in Takapuna.

“The North Shore is one of New Zealand’s fastest growing cities. And, one of the most prosperous areas in the country. The momentum underpinning these facts are that commercial activity is so prevalent in the city – with a number of large New Zealand companies such as The Warehouse, 3M and EDS now having their head offices in the city.

“We envisage that the North Shore of Auckland now, is identical to the North Shore of Sydney some 10 – 15 years ago, so the forecasted potential for the city becoming a commercial centre in its own right is very real.”

Meanwhile, Mr Pleciak said that landbanking the bare land portion of the property for several years while New Zealand’s economy rights itself, would deliver positive returns in the medium to longer term.

“Despite the recent growth of alternative office locations such as Albany, Takapuna remains the commercial office centre of the North Shore. While Takapuna’s overall proportion of the city’s office stock had declined in recent years, it still remains the single largest precinct,” he said.

“There has continued to be development in the Takapuna precinct over recent years, although this has been fairly restricted due to a lack of suitable sites being brought to the market within the town itself. A majority of recent development has therefore taken place at Smales Farm on the corner of Northcote and Taharoto roads.

“The development and successful leasing of Smales Farm – with only 1300 square metres of space remaining vacant – indicates the continued demand for quality office space on the North Shore where existing office stock is dominated by ‘B’ and ‘C’ class property.”

Mr Pleciak said North Shore City Council had already granted approval for a potential residential development on the land – which would add a complimentary new structure to its current uses.

“The council has rubber-stamped consent for 42 per cent of the site to be redeveloped into residential units over six levels – totaling some 12,800 square metres. This approved residential development will feature a mix of one, two, three and four bedroom homes. In all, approval has been given for 80 dwellings – including three penthouses,” he said.

Mr Pleciak said Takapuna apartment values have held relatively steady in current market – predominantly due to small amount of stock available on the market.

ENDS

© Scoop Media