Zespri headquarters site for sale

Zespri headquarters site with substantial commercial development opportunity for sale

One of the last blocks of premium commercial land in central Mount Maunganui, encompassing the global head offices of Zespri International and a leased portion of land from a public park, has been placed on the market for sale.

Located in the heart of beachside Mount Maunganui at 384-410 Maunganui Road, the 8100sqm property is also bound by Miro and Matai Streets. The immediate area features housing and commercial buildings, with the Mt Maunganui shopping district and beach nearby. Maunganui Road carries approximately 11,000 vehicles per day.

The site is part of a larger commercial block of 1.160 hectares owned by Tauranga City Council. Following a public submissions process, the Zespri site has been placed on the market for sale and is being jointly marketed by Bayleys Tauranga salesperson Brendon Bradley and Colliers International Tauranga salespeople Simon Clark and Duncan Woodhouse by deadline private treaty closing on October 1.

The block of land for sale is currently leased to the head offices of Zespri, comprising a 2540sqm building with extensive car parking. The adjoining land is occupied by the Mount Library and Mount Plunket Preschool, which is not included in the sale. The Little Big Markets are the other user of the southern grassed area on the site. These markets take place monthly, as part of a venue hire agreement with the council.

The property is being offered for sale of the freehold or leasehold with a prepaid rental for a 99 year lease, providing flexible buying options. There are several options for the location of the public park: Northern Park – under this option the park is relocated to the northern end of the block giving the purchaser free use of the northern park area and receiving all income from Zespri until the end of their lease. Southern Park - The existing Southern Park area remains in its existing location.

Mr Bradley said the sale presented a potential buyer with the opportunity to take over a significant, high-profile commercial property with an existing tenant and flexible development options.

“This is an outstanding prospect to secure and plan a comprehensive redevelopment of this 8100sqm commercially-zone business site from the expiry of Zespri in three to four years’ time,” he said.

“There is limited availability of commercial business-zoned land in Mount Maunganui, so this site is likely to be sought after by buyers and investors.”

Given the commercial zoning of the entire site under the city plan, a wide range of commercial and residential uses are permitted, as well as buildings of up to a height of 12m - three or four storeys.

The size of the site lends itself to a number of future development options including creating a destination hub for multiple uses such as retail, office and high density residential development or a combination of these, said Mr Bradley.

Zespri relocated their headquarters from Auckland to the site in 2002 and substantially upgraded and extended the existing building, said Simon Clark. The company’s original lease was due to expire in November 2017, but has been extended for a further two years November 2019, with the option to give 12 months notice from November 2017 for expiry in November 2018.

The Zespri office is a single-level building with an enclosed courtyard. After growing to capacity in this existing building, in January 2015 Zespri signed a two-year lease to occupy an additional 1281sqm area of land south of their existing building for a temporary prefabricated building of 648sqm across two units, connected by 320sqm of decking. There is extensive car parking capacity onsite. The total annual lease paid by Zespri is $525,000 + GST plus outgoings.

Zespri is one of New Zealand’s most successful horticulture marketing companies, with reported sales revenues of $1.57 billion in the 2014/15 year.

Mr Clark said the flexibility of the property’s size, location and potential uses due to its commercial business zoning presented a significant opportunity to an astute investor or developer.

ENDS

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