Corner site an Eden Tce trophy
Paul Charman
Asubstantial commercial building, on a large mixed use zone corner site on Auckland’s city fringe offers huge buy-now-develop-later potential.
That’s the view of Alan Haydock, manager of Bayleys Auckland City & Fringe team, who is marketing the property with colleagues Damien Bullick and Ken Hu.
Haydoc says the 3067sq m site — at 78-96 New North Rd (cnr Eden Tce and Ruru Rd) — sustains a 3264sq m low-rise building with extensive road frontage and parking for 70 vehicles at the rear of the site.
The fully leased property is currently producing annual rental income of $858,515 plus GST.
“This would be one of the biggest and best add value opportunities on the doorstep of the CBD that we have taken to the market in the last few years,” says Haydock.
“It is a superbly located, highprofile but under-utilised site, which would be ideal for future residential or mixed-use development. There would be potential to put extra floors on top of the existing building and add further buildings on the car parking area. In the meantime, the attractive existing building has an A grade seismic assessment, while its associated car parking generates substantial cashflow, with risk spread across 13 tenants.”
One of the trophy listings in Bayleys’ second Total Property portfolio for 2019, the property is for sale by tender, closing 4pm, April 2, unless sold prior.
The 1980s vintage building has a mix of ground floor retail/showroom and commercial accommodation; first floor offices plus basement space. It comprises two annexes connected by a central core and main entranceway with a large tiled foyer and a lift. Two of the ground floor tenancies are also accessed from this area.
There are four ground floor tenants, the largest being a 450sq m Jetts 24-hour fitness centre.
“Full advantage is taken of the excellent exposure to New North Rd, with extensive glazing extending the length of the main road frontage,” says Bullick. “These tenancies provide attractive high-stud spaces and are mostly open-plan. The four office tenancies located on the level above are also well-lit and high-stud, comprising a mix of open plan and office areas with elevated views.”
The basement level provides a mix of workroom, storage and commercial accommodation. The largest 280sq m tenancy, occupied by EQ Struc Limited, has a glazed entry fronting Ruru Street with polished concrete floors and double-studheight, with exposed services. Parking at the rear comprises 40 enclosed parks with roller door access form Ruru St, plus a further 30 open air parks on top. Leases have expiry dates ranging from later this year though to 2023, with various rights of renewal. Six of them have fixed yearly rental increases of 1.75 to 3.0 per cent.
“This is a very well presented commercial property which will appeal to both investors and future developers,” says Bullick.
Haydock says the property is located in a popular and thriving city fringe location which is particularly sought after because of its convenient access to the CBD.
“This access will be further enhanced with the opening of the nearby City Rail Link (CRL) station. It will be part an enlarged and redeveloped Mount Eden Station, which will service both the existing Western line and new CRL line to Karangahape Rd.
It will take only three minutes to get from Mountt Eden station to Karangahape Station and three minutes from there to Aotea Station and another three minutes to Britomart.
“The station will look completely different from the present platforms which are accessed via a footbridge from Mt Eden Rd. The main access for the CRL city bound platforms will be at Ruru St, about 75m from 78-96 New North Rd.
Being so close to major train station and within the Auckland Grammar School Zone along with the natural-light-enhancing corner location, makes it ideal for future residential development.”
The mixed use zone provides for residential activity, plus predominantly smaller scale commercial activity. Intensive development up to four levels (16 m) is typically allowed under this zoning,” says Haydock. “It has an additional height overlay of 21m although reduced over parts of the site, due to Mount Eden Volcanic view shaft restrictions.”