Bigger, better opportunity in fast-growing southern centre
A significant logistics facility in Rolleston’s iPort Business Park, linked to Midland Inland Port and leased to Lyttelton Port Company (LPC), is for sale, offering the rare 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 30,000sq m 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 long-term lease.
“The 4.5ha 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 South Island’s principal logistics hub.”
Catley said buyers will consider the asset
an infrastructure holding rather than purely a logistics acquisition, which will add to its international appeal.
“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 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 and logistics property with no land sensitivities, at a level that will not require Overseas Investment Office approval, Catley added.
Comprising 20,390sq m of high-stud warehouse and 560sq m of offices, as well as a large drive-through breezeway and canopied loading areas, the facility also has a large 12,742sq m yard and 75 carparks.
It is in the IPort Business Park, a $500m development encompassing 122ha in Rolleston, the country’s fastest growing urban area. Its population grew by 17 times between 1996-2022 and is expected to expand by a further 41 per cent between
2022-48, according to Infometrics.
Over 90 per cent of Canterbury’s exports now move through Rolleston, cementing the location’s position as the South Island’s leading logistics hub.
Occupiers 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 per cent vacancy in Rolleston industrial property in December
2023.