Rare opportunity to own one of the South Island’s largest industrial facilities
A significant logistics facility in Rolleston’s iPort Business Park, linked to Midland Inland Port and leased to Lyttelton Port Company (LPC), is on the market for sale, offering the rarely-available chance to acquire an institutional-grade industrial infrastructure asset in one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing towns.
CBRE Christchurch managing director Tim Rookes said the almost 30,000sqm facility at 32 IPort Drive is in a class of its own, representing a truly premium asset in an extremely high-demand sector.
“This is one of the best opportunities ever seen in Christchurch to acquire a newly-constructed industrial asset of genuine scale, with an excellent tenant covenant and longterm lease. The 4.5 hectares of freehold land has an open boundary with Midland Inland Port, as well as a rail siding, making this an opportunity that can not be easily replicated.”
Completed in 2020 by Carter Group for LPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (Christchurch City Council’s investment arm), the facility is one of the largest industrial buildings in the South Island.
It is currently occupied by MOVE Logistics under a sub-lease arrangement, with LPC holding a 17-year lease expiring in 2037, potentially extending to 2045 under a right of renewal. The lease generates nearly $4 million in net annual rental income, with regular rental increases built in.
Rookes, who is inviting international expressions of interest along with Auckland and Melbourne-based colleagues Bruce Catley and Chris O’Brien, said the property’s size, lease and location place it in a class of institutional-grade assets not usually seen outside the upper North Island.
“This property is of a scale and quality which has not been available in Canterbury before. It will have genuine appeal to national institutional investors, as well as offshore parties looking to acquire a key holding in the principal logistics hub for the South Island.”
Buyers will consider the asset an infrastructure holding rather than purely a logistics acquisition, which will add to its international appeal, said Catley.
“The facility is linked with LPC’s neighbouring Midland Inland Port via a dedicated driveway, which provides direct vehicle access from the inland port into the building’s loading docks. This is a unique key advantage which enables the tenant to streamline their supply chain integration with LPC's infrastructure, providing both operational and sustainability benefits.”
An attraction for offshore-based investors will be the opportunity to purchase international-grade infrastructure & logistics property with no land sensitivities, at a level that will not require Overseas Investment Office approval, Catley added.
Comprising 20,390 square metres of high-stud warehouse and 560sqm of offices, as well as a large drivethrough breezeway and canopied loading areas, the facility also has a large 12,742sqm yard and 75 car parks.
The facility is in the IPort Business Park, a $500m development encompassing 122 hectares of land in Rolleston, which is the country’s fastest growing urban area. Rolleston’s population grew by 17 times between 1996 and 2022 and is expected to expand by a further 41% between 2022 and 2048, well above the national average, according to Infometrics.
Over 90% of Canterbury’s exports now move through Rolleston, cementing the location’s position as the South Island’s leading logistics hub. Occupiers in Rolleston benefit from easy access to the upgraded Christchurch Southern Motorway, providing access to Christchurch Airport, central city and the main Lyttelton Port, as well as the main trunk rail line on the doorstep.
Extremely high demand among occupiers for industrial land and existing facilities in Christchurch has resulted in vacancy plummeting to record lows. CBRE’s latest survey showed just 0.53% vacancy in Rolleston industrial property in December 2023. Ongoing near-zero vacancy in Rolleston, as well as greater Christchurch, is a strong driver of rental growth in industrial property.