Supermarket land and buildings placed on the market

Media Release

12.9.2016

Supermarket land and buildings go in the shopping trolley for commercial property investors

The land and buildings housing a well performing standalone supermarket on the Kapiti Coast just north of Wellington have been placed on the market for sale.

The property at 91 – 93 Mill Road in Otaki is home to the town’s long-established and recently remodeled Countdown supermarket. The supermarket has been selling cereals and baked beans on the location for more than 20 years in various guises.

The supermarket building occupies a total of 987 square metres – consisting of 831 square metres of retail floor space, 86 square metres of office amenities, and 70 square metres of loading area. The land around Countdown Otaki also accommodates 46 car parks.

Countdown Otaki’s holding company, General Distributors Ltd, is a subsidiary of Progressive Enterprises, and has a current six year lease in place through until November 2020, together with two further six year rights of renewal. The lease generates annual rental of $157,000. The Countdown brand has 183 supermarkets nationwide.

The Otaki property is made up of 2204 square metres of freehold land. The Countdown Otaki land and building are being marketed for sale at auction on September 22 by Bayleys Wellington sales person Stephen Lange.

Mr Lange said the property represented a consolidation of six titles – two on Mill Road and four in Aotaki Street. Adjoining these was a rectangular shaped parcel of land leased the corner section - leased from Kapiti Coast District Council which provided additional sealed parking.

The building has an Initial Evaluation Procedure rating of 71 percent of new build standards. The main block of land and the single storey supermarket building have a 2014 council rating figure $1.1million.

The building itself comprises concrete foundations, steel framing, concrete tilt panel and fibre cement sheeting walls, long run steel roofing, and aluminium windows and doors. The retail space has suspended ceilings throughout, vinyl flooring, and is fully wired up with smoke detectors and alarms.

The tar-sealed car park wraps around the building. Toward the rear of the retail space is a two-storey warehouse for loading and unloading stock on a daily basis, with adjacent access to the freezer and chiller amenities.

There is access from the warehouse to the secure partially covered yard space. The property’s air conditioned office and amenities – including staff bathroom and cafeteria – are housed on the upper level.

“As an investment opportunity, Countdown Otaki delivers on the standard criteria of having a reputable and well-established tenant in place, with a strong customer base, on a long lease term, with a well-maintained high quality building,” Mr Lange said.

“The size of the Otaki supermarket is reflective of Countdown’s ‘regional’ presence business model.”

A clause in the lease to General Distributors requires the supermarket operator to undertake a redecoration of the property once every five years.

“This is to reinforce the appeal of Countdown’s offering among its shopping public – where a clean appearance is paramount to underpinning the smoothness off the whole grocery purchasing experience. As a result of this clause, the maintenance of the property has consistently been to a high standard over the years,” Mr Lange added.

© Scoop Media