The shop that made Kiwi fashion icon Karen Walker
A corner retail property which has seen the rise of one of New Zealand’s most internationally-renowned fashion brands — worn by several ‘queens of pop’ and a US First Lady — is on the market for sale.
The ground floor commercial unit at 6 Balm St, Newmarket, Auckland, has been leased to leading global fashion label Karen Walker for the past
27 years.
The property, which is on the market for the first time in 16 years, comprises a high-profile corner retail unit leased to the fashion brand that generates an annual net rental of $83,000 plus GST, plus a small accessory unit which comprises two vacant car parks.
Karen Walker, whose clothes have been worn by some of the world’s biggest names, from Madonna to Michelle Obama, currently occupies the property on a two-year lease expiring in September 2021, with four further two-year rights of renewal extending to September 2029.
Walker launched her eponymous fashion label in 1988 and quickly established her brand among the world’s most prominent fashion names. She began showcasing her work at the Balm St site from about
1993. Walker’s innovative label specialises in designer fashion, also extending to accessories such as jewellery and sunglasses.
The label has six stores across New Zealand and is now located in 35 countries, 200 cities and 1000 stores globally, including Barneys New York, Liberty London and Harvey Nichols.
The unit at 6 Balm St, which is a Stratum in Freehold title, is being marketed for sale by Bayleys Auckland Central.
Salespeople James Chan and Matt Lee said the approximately 103sq m premises, with its additional accessory unit containing two car parks, is part of a building comprising nine strata-titled units across two levels. The property has undergone a variety of renovations and alteration works over the years, and was converted into separate strata unit titles in 1993.
It is zoned Business — Metropolitan Centre which provides for a wide range of activities including commercial, leisure and high-density residential.
“The street-level unit for sale has dual frontages onto Balm and Nuffield streets in the heart of Newmarket’s retail and business precinct. It occupies a prime site in an area which has built a reputation for having Auckland’s highest pedestrian volumes outside the central business district,” Chan says.
The property is within walking distance of the newly redeveloped 277 Westfield Shopping Centre, which had added further to foot traffic in this traditionally bustling retail precinct.
Public transport amenities, including Newmarket Train Station are nearby.
“With a long-established tenant of international standing, in one of the best locations in one of New Zealand’s premier retail and business precincts, this is a trophy investment opportunity for a passive investor in retail real estate,” Chan says.
The two upstairs car parks are accessed via a ramp along Nuffield St, and provide additional future options for new investors.
“Currently unoccupied, these car parks offer further add-value income potential.
“The increasingly tight supply of parking in city-fringe locations such as Newmarket would lend itself to new opportunities to lease these to individual workers, or retail or office businesses concentrated in the surrounding area.”