New era for Palmerston North department store

New era for former Palmerston North department store

The landmark Palmerston North commercial property, known for the last 27 years as the ‘Farmers Building’, is for tender with Bayleys as the department store relocates to new premises across the Square.

To be sold with vacant possession, the prime Broadway freehold investment property is being marketed by Karl Cameron and Lewis Townshend of Bayleys Manawatu with tenders closing on 9 April.

“This property was last sold in 1983 and represents a significant CBD holding for an astute investor. The inherent value of a centrally-located building of this scale in the Broadway strip is assured and transcends market volatility to a certain extent. Given its future redevelopment potential, this is an exciting offering and ultimately the market will determine the value of the property,” says Mr Cameron, adding that the current rateable value is $5.7million.

The 2923sq m site is held in six contiguous titles with around 8204sq m of gross lettable area across four buildings, the newest of which was developed in 1964 and others dating back to the early 1900s.

“Upon entering the building it appears to be simply a two-storey structure with elevators and lifts connecting the floors. However, behind the scenes is a veritable maze of corridors, storage areas and old-fashioned goods elevators for stock movement. There are certainly glimpses of the original department store that was founded on the site in 1904,” says Mr Cameron.

“The building could be retained as a single tenancy retail operation – although we acknowledge that this would require a strong operator and brand – but it also lends itself to subdivision into multiple retail tenancies, office accommodation or some combination of the two.”

Other potential end-uses for the building include a residential apartment conversion or a hotel operation – both options which could have appeal once commercial development funding fundamentals come back into line.

“There has certainly been a lot of early interest in the property which shows a high degree of optimism in the commercial investment sector. We have also had enquiry from a potential tenant requiring substantial retail space so the signs are heartening and indicate confidence in Palmerston North as a progressive region,” says Mr Cameron.

The property has dual frontages to Broadway and King Street which provides flexibility and the rare opportunity to have profile to two key arterials.

The building configuration provides a ground floor footprint of 2904.96sq m with a mezzanine of 356.33 sq m, a first floor of 2871sq m and a second floor offering 1019sq m of space. A penthouse level provides a further 63.53sq m.

A centrally-located passenger lift services all floors while two-way escalators are centrally-located at ground and first floor.

The Farmers Building was formerly the home of privately-owned department store, Collinson and Cunninghames (affectionately known as ‘C&Cs’) which cemented its place in the hearts and minds of Palmerston North people from its early beginnings as a drapery store in 1904. Founders and owners Leopold Collinson and John Cunninghame built the business up and employed 100 people even through the depression years. The genteel tearooms with live background music and immaculately-attired wait staff were a social hub from 1915, while generations of children were captivated by the annual Christmas Santa Cave in the basement complete with mechanically-animated characters and animals from 1919.

When Collinson died in 1954, the store’s window displays featured a special memorial to him while some 800 pieces of ‘C&C’ memorabilia were donated by the family and former staff members to the Manawatu Museum Society, now superseded by Te Manawa, Palmerston North’s museum and gallery.

“People still talk about C&C’s today – it was seen as one of ‘the’ places to work in Palmerston North and there is a reunion and final farewell for the store planned for 27 March with Leo Collinson’s grandson, Mike, planning to attend,” says Mr Cameron.

ENDS

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