Southern PlaceMakers a top offer
Pent-up demand for quality commercial property in Otago and Southland has revved-up interest on the PlaceMakers premises offered for sale at Gore.
Mark Simpson, director of Colliers Queenstown, says the purpose-built, large-format retail and trade store has excellent investment fundamentals.
It sits upon a 3,813sq m site — spanning five-titles adjoining the Gore Town Centre — the second-largest town in the Southland. It has a wellestablished, listed national tenant that has operated from the location since the 1980s. And it has been substantially expanded and strengthened over time to meet both the needs of the tenant and statutory requirements.
The property is down to be auctioned at 11am on March 7, unless sold earlier, and Simpson expects strong interest from both local and national investors.
“Our region’s commercial property market has had limited opportunities of this quality and price range in recent times, making this a great chance to secure a top-notch, bottomdrawer investment,” he says.
“The property has a rateable value (as at 2016) of $1,700,000 and was built for PlaceMakers in the 1980s.
“It has since been substantially expanded and strengthened over time to meet both the needs of the tenant and statutory requirements.
“The tenant’s ongoing commitment to the site is backed by a generous lease returning $108,838 plus GST in net annual rent.
“Three-yearly rental reviews are indexed to the lower of CPI or market rent, with the next review due on renewal in October 2021.
“The site, which spans five freehold titles at 10 Fairfield Street and 6 Medway St, is in the centre of Gore’s main commercial district.
“The quality mix of surrounding retailers includes The Warehouse, Countdown, Noel Leeming, New World, Regional Ford and Guthrie Bowron to name a few,” Simpson says.
The property comprises a flexibly configured 1,261sq m building providing a 450sq m retail showroom fronting Fairfield Street, plus an adjoining 727sq m warehouse that serves as a bulk trade store, supported by a substantial secure yard with good vehicle and customer access. The warehouse has a stud height of about 6m, allowing for drivethrough truck access from the yard through to Fairfield St.
It includes about 84sq m of partitioned offices with a mezzanine floor above comprising some 38sq m of storage and a 32sq m office and staffroom.
The fully security-fenced yard of about 2,500sq m sits behind the main building, with frontage to Medway Street offering dual entry and exit access, in addition to the drivethrough bulk retail exit.
The building was originally built in
1982, with bulk store and retail additions in 2004.
An initial seismic assessment in
2013 found the building meets 78 per cent of building standards. Additional strengthening works were completed by the current owners in 2015.
Tenant Fletcher Distribution Limited, trading as PlaceMakers, is the retail arm of Fletcher Building Ltd. PlaceMakers is New Zealand’s largest supplier of building materials and hardware, with more than 74,000 product lines and eight manufacturing plants nationwide supplying frames and trusses.
Each of its 61 stores — located from Kaitaia to Invercargill — is a joint venture with a local business partner. The company employs more than 2,100 people and serves over 300,000 customers.
Colliers’ Rory O’Donnell says the property’s Commercial zoning under the Gore District Council District Plan allows for a wide range of activities.
“These include offices, healthcare, education, visitor accommodation, residential, commercial recreation, and car parking.”