New lease of life at Forlongs premises
Eighteen months after Forlongs closed, half of the Hamilton department store’s Frankton retail tenancies have been let long-term.
The remaining tenancies, divided by Rawhiti St, included about
3800 square metres in the Hall St/ Rawhiti St block, and 2900sqm within the Commerce St block, NAI Harcourts commercial and industrial sales and leasing agent Scott Sander said.
‘‘There has been ongoing and new inquiry for the large-format retail space on Hall St, which is under temporary tenancy until the New Year. This became home to the Electoral Commission during this year’s election and will be followed by Hunting & Fishing’s Tents and Outdoor Equipment Expo through to Christmas and possibly into the New Year.’’
Home Center NZ occupies
3000sqm on the Hall St block and has taken an additional 1270sqm across the road in the Commerce St block.
‘‘They are expanding their range of products from bedding, furniture and soft furnishings through to hardware and outdoor equipment, and now cater for all indoor/outdoor homeware goods,’’ Sander said.
‘‘Floors Inc has rebranded as Euflooria in a larger tenancy off Rawhiti St but still within the Commerce St block. The corner of Commerce and Kent streets has been redeveloped into smaller tenancies and has leased up well with just three spaces left.’’
Further along Kent St, 5100sqm of the former Forlongs bulk store warehousing is fully leased for two years to Guardian Secure Storage, which will take over ownership once the lease expires.
Forlongs managing director Terry Forlong said that rather than sell the buildings – which had
"It's good to see the buildings coming to life again, watching someone else add to the site we've had for so many years."
Terry Forlong
been in the family for 75 years – Forlongs chose to lease them.
‘‘There’s a lot of history attached to our buildings, and we know our buildings, unlike someone else’s.’’
Once Forlongs announced it was closing down, some of its suppliers began looking for key outlets from which they could continue to sell their products. They approached Forlongs about renting the buildings, including Home Center NZ which retains the Forlongs name.
‘‘It’s good to see the buildings coming to life again, watching someone else add to the site we’ve had for so many years. Some of the new tenants and some of the new employees came from Forlongs and they bring that knowledge to the new operations,’’ Forlong said.
Sander said things were simmering away all over Frankton, with properties snapped up ‘‘before the paint has dried’’.
‘‘Frankton is a stone’s throw from the CBD, a valuable piece of Hamilton and its original centre. It’s a sought-after suburb for both existing and new business to Hamilton. Frankton business owners are generally very loyal to Frankton and loath to move out of the area. The result is historically low vacancy rates.
‘‘Retail and office vacancies [in Frankton] are at an all-time low with the only retail vacancies available being the ex-Forlongs spaces of which only 20 per cent currently remains available. Industrial vacancy in Frankton is practically non-existent,’’ Sander said.