Charities gain in sale of $12m site
Christchurch philanthropic couple Marilyn and Grant Nelson are selling the last property owned by their charitable trust, The Gama Foundation.
This time they are selling a large industrial complex in Middleton in southwest Christchurch, which is expected to fetch more than $12 million.
Located at 55 Lunns Rd, the property is leased to ASX-listed transport firm K&S Freighters on a new five-year lease.
The parent firm, Australianbased K&S Corporation, is one of the largest specialty transport firms in Australia. It had turnover of $755m in 2017.
Grant Nelson said The Gama Foundation would give away most of the sale proceeds to help fund university research.
‘‘I have been legally blind most of my life and in 1979 I started a business working from the garage at our home . . .
‘‘In 1995 we had the opportunity to sell our business and we decided to take a different direction in life.
‘‘We put the proceeds from the business sale into the trust and bought 55 Lunns Rd. Since then, we have devoted our time to the work of the trust.
‘‘We now want to retire and so have decided to sell the property and distribute funds to universities and charitable organisations we have been involved with in the past.’’
The Nelsons were awarded Queen’s Service Medals in 2011, and in 2015 gave $22.1m to their causes from the sale of an industrial property in Blenheim Rd.
Sam Staite, director of industrial sales at Colliers International in Christchurch, said the premises would appeal to passive investors.
‘‘It’s rare to find such a large under-utilised holding next to the motorway and close to the centre [of the] city.’’
The 9156.38 square metres of buildings are on 2.3 hectares, with net annual rental of $1.04 million.
Zoned industrial heavy, the property meets 70 per cent of the new building standard. The complex is made up of two warehouses and two offices.
Staite said Middleton has historically had a low vacancy level. ‘‘The new overbridge that links Birmingham Drive to Wigram has increased the accessibility of this area. Access to the main arterial routes, including the Southern Motorway, is easy.’’
Lunns Rd is a main link from the busy thoroughfare of Annex Rd to the Curletts Rd motorway.
‘‘[The] Southpark industrial estate is located over the road, while the very large holding of Hamilton Jet is almost directly opposite 55 Lunns Rd.
‘‘With Hamilton Jet having bought a new greenfields site in Hornby, we expect this to become a significant development site in the future.’’
The property is for sale by deadline private treaty, closing on Thursday June 28.