Flagship store site in CBD landmark
The Auckland flagship premises of an international clothing retailer have gone up for sale in a centuryold character building in the Queen St luxury shopping precinct.
The 680sq m-plus unit sits in the landmark Guardian Trust Building. Constructed during World War I for the NZ Insurance Company, the building’s marble facade presents some of Auckland’s most prestigious retail frontage to Queen St.
The retail premises for sale form part of a modern extension added to the building in the early 2000s. The three-level unit houses a Superdry clothing store at street level, plus a basement safe-deposit facility leased to New Zealand Vault and smaller storage tenancies.
It generates total net annual rental income of approximately $553,226 plus outgoings and GST.
Superdry pays annual net rent of $480,800 for its 232sq m store. The current lease extends to 2025 with a further six-year right of renewal and incorporates fixed 3 per cent annual rental growth. The company pays a further $18,000 a year on a monthly lease for 80sq m of storage space.
In a link to the building’s past, a
210sq m basement vault is leased to New Zealand Vault, a continuation of the vault business first established by NZ Insurance. In operation since
1931, it offers high-security storage services and claims to have the most secure vaults in the country.
Its tenancy generates annual net rental income of $33,501 plus outgoings and GST. The current lease runs to 2023 with two further five-year rights of renewal. It incorporates two-yearly rent reviews pegged at CPI plus 1.5 per cent.
The property at Unit 5, 101 Queen St is being marketed through Bayleys Auckland Central and Bayleys’ Asian Markets team.
It will be sold by international tender closing at 4pm NZ time on Wednesday 18 May.
Salespeople James Chan and Oscar Kuang said the freehold unittitled property offered some 682sq m across three levels.
The property has an Initial Evaluation Procedure seismic rating of 67 per cent of new building standard.
“The unit for sale consists of two retail floors, mezzanine storage and a large basement,” said Chan.
“The property is well configured with fully glazed street-level shop frontage providing maximum exposure to some of the highest foot traffic in New Zealand.
“It sits within a landmark mixeduse building which was refurbished in the 1960s and again in the 1990s, and now offers a combination of retail units with apartments on upper floors,” Chan said.
Built between 1914-18, the Guardian Trust Building is Auckland’s earliest remaining highrise office block.
Today the site forms part of the Business–City Centre zone under the Auckland Unitary Plan, with permitted activities ranging from office, retail and residential accommodation to conference and entertainment facilities.
Kuang said the property’s position a block from Commercial Bay and surrounded by some of Auckland’s most prestigious office towers, hotels and a growing number of large apartment buildings, helped to ensure heavy foot traffic day and night.
“This stretch of downtown Queen St is a premier destination for luxury shopping, with high-end international outlets including Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci, along with top local retail brands.