Recruitment and legal firms’ office complex for sale

Recruitment and legal firms’ office complex for sale courts new owner

The land and buildings housing one of Canterbury’s oldest legal firms alongside the region’s branch of a national recruitment and employment agency have been placed on the market for sale.

The property at 35 and 35B Leslie Hills Drive in the Christchurch suburb of Riccarton consists of two standalone office blocks housing three tenancies – of which a pair are prominent professional services businesses encompassing long-standing local law firm Purnell Creighton, and recruitment and temporary employment placement agency Kelly Services.

Purnell Creighton has been practising business, family, and commercial law in Canterbury since 1919. Meanwhile, Kelly Services’ Christchurch operation is one of four such locations in New Zealand - with other sites in Auckland, Napier and Wellington. The company was recently purchased by Australia’s largest recruitment and job placement firm, Programmed.

Now the 825 square metres of combined office space sitting on some 885 square metres of land is being marketed for sale at auction on August 6 through Bayleys Christchurch. Salespeople Alex White and Stewart White said the location was zoned for commercial office use under the Christchurch City Council plan and came with a total of 22 car parks – generating a total combined net rental of $236,206 plus GST per annum.

Alex White said both firms had naming rights for their respective blocks – allowing prominent signage to be attached to their premises facing onto Leslie Hills Drive.

“Purnell Creighton is on a current lease running through to 2022 paying rental of $67,526 plus GST per annum with one further three-year right of renewal, while Kelly Services is on a current lease running through to 2023 paying rental of $100,040 plus GST per annum,” Alex White said.

The first of two rectangular buildings - designed by architecture firm Warren & Mahoney and housing Purnell Creighton - was constructed in 1992 of tilt slab concrete walls on concrete floors with steel beams, and has a current new building standards rating of 80 percent. The tenancy includes nine carparking spaces.

The second building - designed by architecture firm Wilson & Hill and housing Kelly Services over three floors - was built in 2007 using similar construction methods to create floor-to-ceiling windows and also has a new building standards rating of 80 percent. Covered carparking occupies the ground level of the building – with an internal staircase leading to the upper floors of open-plan office space and staff amenities. Kelly Services’ tenancy also allows for six car parks.

Stewart White said the configuration and tenancy mix of the property meant it would appeal to investors. Both buildings had landscaped hedging and vegetation to add a ‘green’ perspective to their street frontages.

Stewart White said commercial premises within the CBD-fringe suburb of Riccarton, such as those at 35 and 35B Leslie Hills Drive, were predominantly two and three-storey properties occupied by professional services firms and healthcare practices.

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