East Auckland Investment Offering With Upside

A fully-leased standalone commercial investment property in the tightly-held East Auckland suburb of Howick signals opportunity for a forward-thinking new owner in light of changing dynamics within the popular village.

The property at 19 Wellington Street is located on a 1,012sqm road-frontage site close to the intersection with Picton Street, the main retail shopping strip, and has Westpac bank and Cleave House co-working space providers as tenants.

The building’s floor area is 887.25sqm and the property has an A-Grade initial evaluation procedure (IEP) seismic report.

The three-level building was purpose-built for Westpac in 1985, and the banking entity has occupied all or part of the property since.

The bank operates from the ground floor, while on the upper level – which was originally Westpac’s regional administration office – coworking space provider Cleave House operates a shared office space business model.

The property returns annual net income of $207,901 plus GST and outgoings, with the two tenants on varying lease terms, and Westpac exercising a right of renewal last year.

The property is for sale by tender closing 4pm, Thursday 5th May, unless sold prior and is being marketed by Mike Adams of Bayleys Auckland Central, in association with Dave Stanley and Greg Hall of Bayleys South Auckland.

Adams says the property is well-positioned to leverage off the established vibrant village retail strip of Picton Street and the newer commercial developments along Fencible Drive, which have enabled Howick to be a self-sufficient suburb with a strong ‘shop local’ ethos.

“Howick is a suburb that has retained its own identity despite significant development in neighbouring areas,” he says.

“Residents are very loyal to their village and this has been evident throughout the pandemic with local retailers weathering the trying conditions well.

“Aside from the larger supermarket chains and the likes of banks, the village comprises small, independent businesses like hospitality and boutique retail that rely on local trade and they’ve been well-supported.”

The area immediately surrounding the subject property is evolving, with more-intensified residential development proving popular.

“The Westpac-anchored property has a church on one side and residential apartments on the other, with additional apartment living across the road,” says Adams.

“While the building has been a well-performing commercial investment for more than 30 years, the favourable underlying Business Mixed Use zoning points to future redevelopment opportunity and prospective buyers are encouraged to pursue the options via the usual Council channels.

“Increasingly, we are seeing investors scoping out commercial properties with Mixed Use zoning close to town centres with a longer-term view of either partial conversion to residential, or more intensified clean-slate redevelopment to take advantage of the site.”

The property comprises three levels with basement car parking providing 29 spaces, and modern office accommodation with good natural light on the ground and first floors.

There are entrances at the front from Wellington Street and towards the rear on the northern side, along with stairwell access from the basement carparking area to each of the floors above.

Both tenants have rights of renewal in their leases. Anchor tenant Westpac (NZ) Investments Limited’s lease has a final expiry of 2029 with market rent review mechanisms in place, while C House Limited, trading as Cleave House, has a final expiry of 2033 with rent reviews benchmarked to a regular CPI review structure.

In addition to the generous on-site parking, the property benefits from ample council car parking within one minutes’ walk from the door.

Howick is well-served by public transport with frequent bus connections, and the Half Moon Bay ferry terminal is 4km away with bus links to Howick village.

Click here for more information on the listing.

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