Trio of commercial properties for sale

One-stop service station and laundromat site headlines trio of commercial properties for sale

The land and buildings housing New Zealand’s only two-in-one petrol service station and drive-through laundromat business headline a trio of commercial properties currently on the market for sale in Rotorua.

The Challenge-branded petrol station and laundromat at 330 Malfroy Road in Westbrook sits within a 260 square metre building on some 2022 square metres of freehold land zoned for suburban retail use.

In addition to the service station and washing/drying business, a motor vehicle repairs and warrant of fitness testing shop also operates from the site – which is being marketed for sale at auction in Hamilton on June 29.

Bayleys salespeople Mark Slade and Andrew Shaw who are marketing the land and buildings at 330 Malfroy Road said: “It’s the only property of its type in New Zealand that we know of where you can pull in to fuel up your car, set the nozzle to ‘automatic fill’ and while your car is being gassed up you can whip in and drop off a basket of laundry to be washed.”

The same tenant leases the service station, the laundromat business, and the car repair workshops. The tenant is on a 10-year lease running through until 2022 with two further five-year rights-of-renewal generating a combined income of $110,000 plus GST per annum. Some $500,000 worth of plant associated with the property include two 40,000 litre fuel tanks and six petrol pumps.

Mr Slade said there were some smaller pockets of land on the periphery of the site which could be utilised to either expand the existing mechanical workshop space, or – subject to minor landscaping – could sustain new retail amenities such as a mobile coffee caravan or food truck.

“The investment opportunity here is about the potential for added-value,” he said, “utilising the existing tenant operations as a cornerstone for growth. The emphasis for future retail leasing prospects – as seen by the laundromat operations – is all about convenience, and maximising the time efficiency of motorists purchasing fuel as their primary reason for visiting the destination.”

Next in the trio of commercial premises is a 623 square metre building just a few doors down in Malfroy Road, which houses a private education facility and a dance studio on 3,039 square metres of freehold commercially-zoned land.

The building at 320 Malfroy Road was built in the 1980s to house five shops as part of a suburban shopping centre. A decade later it was converted into a medical centre with adjoining pharmacy, then in the 2000s again reformatted into its present configuration.

Now the block contains two tenancies:
• Kokiri Alternative Learning Centre, currently on a two-year lease expiring in 2019, with two further two-year rights-of-renewal, generating annual income of $45,000 + GST. The centre occupies 470 square metres of the building
and
• Wetini Mitai Ngatai dance school currently on a three-year lease expiring in 2020 with three further three-year rights of renewal, generating an annual income of $15,000 plus GST.
The dance school occupies 153 square metres of the building and is headed up by award-winning kapa haka leader Wetini Mitai Ngatai who in 2015 was the recipient of the Laureate Award at the Westpac New Zealand Arts Awards.

The land and buildings are being marketed for sale at auction in Rotorua on June 22. Bayleys Rotorua salesperson Brei Gudsell said the property sustained car parking for some 20 vehicles for use by the tenants’ staff and clientele.

“The peak use periods of both tenancies are complimentary – with the alternative learning facility operating during business hours, and the dance studio predominantly teaching students in an after-school capacity,” she said.

“The building has considerable flexibility for any future owner – as already demonstrated being converted from what was five original adjoining premises into two tenancies. The physical configuration of the two current tenancies means the building’s interior could easily be realigned into one commercial premises at any stage in the future.

”Rotorua’s CBD-fringe commercial property belt has evolved dramatically over the past decade in line with the city’s growing population, and changing social habits and patterns – particularly in the retail sector. This has seen more retail and recreational amenity tenancies relocating to suburban destination hubs such as around the Redwoods and Fairy Springs,” Ms Gudsell added.

“The resulting vacant space in the CBD-fringe in particular has then been re-occupied by entities whose clientele are drawn from across the city to participate in the activities they offer, rather than businesses servicing a purely localised customer base.

“As a consequence, the future potential uses and tenancies of this site are open to a far wider range of businesses than would have been considered a decade ago. With more choice of potential business uses comes a bigger tenancy pool should the site become vacant, or should any new owner look at development options.”

Rounding out the trio is a mixed-use retail and residential premises directly opposite the entrance to the Skyline Gondola park, at 153 Fairy Springs Road. Currently the corner location property consists of an 83 square metre retail showroom facing out onto Fairy Springs Road, and an adjacent 120 square metre three-bedroom residential dwelling. Combined, they sit on some 1184 square metres of freehold flat land.

The retail showroom building most recently housed de Flute Glass-blowing studio and art gallery, but is being sold with vacant possession. The land and buildings are being marketed for sale at auction in Rotorua on June 22.

Bayleys Rotorua salesperson Mark Slade who is marketing the property said Fairy Springs Road had a daily average traffic count of 21,000 vehicles – making it one of the busiest roads in the city.

“As the gateway to and from Rotorua for the majority of vehicles coming into the city from the central and upper North Island, Fairy Springs Road is a magnet for retail premises. The three buildings on site are currently set up for a consented work-from-home artist’s business,” Mr Slade said.

“The existing modern barn-like retail showroom structure could easily be utilised as a general arts studio, and subject to council consenting, could be substantially enlarged to add more showroom space.

“There are a number of Rotorua artists who would relish the opportunity to have their works showcased in such a prominent location under a co-operative style arts banner.

“An obvious target market for any new arts studio of this nature would be the hundreds of tourists who visit the Skyline Rotorua tourism and entertainment complex immediately across the road. An arts studio type operation would complement the more thrills-and-action focused activities of the Skyline operation.

“We understand there may also be some scope for the installation of a billboard or large signage advertising on the Fairy Springs Road boundary of the property, which would boost the location’s revenue streams.”

The home associated with the retail property is accessed off Amokura Street, and comes with a 70 square metre garage which could be used as a workshop or storage facility.

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