Town’s only supermarket site for sale
The land and buildings making up Katikati’s Countdown supermarket – the only major supermarket in the growing Western Bay of Plenty town – have been placed on the market through CBRE.
Located on 10,283sq m of land on SH2 between Waihi and Tauranga, the high-profile property is being marketed by CBRE negotiators Buzz Scown and Cherry Higginson.
It is for sale by deadline private treaty closing at
4pm on Wednesday July 20.
With a long-term lease to General Distributors Ltd, operator of the Countdown brand in New Zealand, the property is a superb stand-alone investment offering strong security of income, says Scown.
“We expect the property to be highly attractive to investors as a long-term, high-quality investment asset with an exceptional tenant covenant, in a location with no major competitor and the benefit of a strong and growing local population.”
The 3225sq m building was constructed in 2012 as a purpose-built Countdown supermarket, providing retail space, first-floor offices and amenities and a loading bay. The building has recently received seismic strengthening work to increase its rating to 67 per cent NBS.
Multiple rights of renewal on the original
10-year lease give a final expiry date of 31 May
2062, while rent reviews are also built into the lease, providing regular income growth.
The property will be considered a desirable acquisition among the many private investors, syndicators and funds currently searching for prime investment opportunities that are resistant to market downturns, Higginson says.
“As an investment proposition, this asset is very hard to beat – offering a long lease term and a foodbased tenant backed by a large Australasian corporation. The Countdown brand is now wellknown and established at this location and offers a very strong tenant covenant.
“Potential buyers can take a high degree of confidence from a tenant that is ultimately owned by Woolworths Group, Australia’s largest supermarket chain with sales in excess of $A67 billion for the 2021 financial year.”
Woolworths NZ owns over 185 Countdown supermarkets and is New Zealand’s largest private sector employer, with 21,000 people employed in its stores, support offices, processing plants and distribution centres.
Supermarket properties are viewed as exceptionally strong investments, owing to the noncyclical nature of the tenants’ food-related business and their proven performance in the Covid-19 environment, says Higginson.
“The future financial security and performance of this investment opportunity is underpinned by demand for food. This ensures supermarkets continue to trade well during both short-term interruptions to business, as well as longer-term economic downturns.”
The property, which also includes 158 carparks, is located on the eastern side of SH2, a key route connecting Tauranga and Auckland. This provides the supermarket with high visibility to a large volume of passing inter-city traffic. Alternative access is provided from two streets bordering the site.