Chance to land big Wairau Valley site
Thirty years of ownership of a large industrial land holding in the Wairau Valley is about to come to an end with the tendering of an 8524sq msite with substantial frontage to Archers Rd.
The vendors, who have owned the property at 201 Archers since 1987, have appointed Ranjan Unka and Trevor Duffin of Bayleys North Shore Commercial to market the offering by tender, closing on October 26 unless sold earlier. The property features in Bayleys’ latest Total Property portfolio magazine.
“Property is very closely held in the Wairau Valley and it is not often that a holding of this size and exposure to a main road comes on to the market,” says Unka.
“It could appeal to developers and add- value investors through to yard based businesses or owner- occupiers looking for a large block of welllocated land to build new premises.”
The rectangular landholding, which is zoned Light Industry, has a gentle contour and a street frontage of about 65 m on to Archers Rd. The depth is about 130m.
Buildings comprise a 1600 sq m warehouse constructed in the early 1980s, plus small structures and leantos of undetermined age and size. The main building’s facade was refurbished in 2003 but is otherwise in original condition, says Unka. The site is mainly gravelled and fenced, with an under utilised strip of land at the rear.
The property has two longstanding tenants, providing holding income of $ 181,333pa. Newflor Industries Limited, established in 1977 and one of New Zealand’s largest suppliers of residential and commercial floor coverings, occupies the main warehouse. Timber Recyclers Limited i s the other occupant and predominantly uses the property as a demolition yard.
“Both tenants have operated from the property for many years, but are now on month- to- month leases which means the purchaser could terminate their tenancies whenever they choose or they could endeavour to negotiate a longer tenure with one of both of them and/ or look for other tenants.
“This could be an option for a ‘ sit and hold’ purchaser,” says Unka.
“However, the site is underdeveloped with a low building coverage so for purchasers wanting to maximise the rental return, a comprehensive redevelopment would be the most logical course of action.”
Trevor Duffin, who specialises in the sale and leasing of properties in the Wairau Valley, says the area i s starved of good quality smaller industrial units and the site would be ideal for a development focused on this sector of the market.
“The vacancy rate from smaller industrial units in the Wairua Valley has been at negligible levels for many years and it’s now got to the point where vacant units are in some instances fetching a higher price than tenanted units because businesses are so desperate to get a foothold in the area,” he said.
“In some instances, tenants are also offering more than the asking rental just to secure premises Both tenants and owner- occupiers are also often having to settle for older- style, very average quality units which they are paying top dollar for.
“All this suggests that a subdivision of the site into smaller units, with a high ratio of warehouse to office space and possibly some live/ work units if the necessary consents can be obtained, would meet with a very positive response from the market.”