Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Two Countdown supermarkets placed for sale
Two Countdown supermarkets placed for sale in investors’ shopping trollies
The land and buildings housing two of the South Island’s biggest Countdown supermarket stores have been placed on the market for sale.
Countdown Hornby in Christchurch and Countdown South Dunedin sit on 17,655 square metres of land and 10,298 square metres of land respectively. The Christchurch premises was built in 2010, while the Dunedin premises was built in 2012.
The two supermarkets’ land and buildings are owned by NZX listed Investore Property Limited and are leased to Countdown’s holding company, General Distributors Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Progressive Enterprises. The Countdown brand has 184 supermarkets nationwide.
Countdown Hornby at 17 Chappie Place generates annual rental income of $1,364,605 plus GST per annum. Meanwhile Countdown South Dunedin at 323 Andersons Bay Road generates annual rental income of $1,225,375 plus GST per annum.
General Distributors has 20-year leases on both properties – currently running through until 2032, with eight further five-year rights of renewals, which take the potential end lease out until 2072.
Nationwide, Countdown is among New Zealand’s foremost grocery brands – employing 18,000 staff, running four dry grocery distribution centres, three fresh produce distribution centres, two meat processing plants, one seafood processing plant and a central support office.
The properties are being marketed for sale by International Tender through Sunil Bhana from Bayleys Auckland, Blair Young from Bayleys Canterbury and Robyn Hyndman from Bayleys Dunedin, with offers being taken until 3pm on February 26. Sales project manager Mike Houlker said the two properties could be tendered for either individually, or as a combined lot.
“As commercial investment opportunities, Countdown Hornby and Countdown South Dunedin deliver on the standard criteria of having a reputable and well-established tenant in place, sustained by a long lease term, in a modern low maintenance building,” Mr Houlker said.
“With lease extension options running for at least another 54 years, these are some of the longest tenancy agreements structured in New Zealand.
“Progressive Enterprises Is very strict on where its large format Countdown stores are located, and how those properties are built and laid out. The highly technical framework for locating and constructing its outlets is based on strategic and incredibly researched demographic and geo-spacial trends and patterns which are then combined with sophisticated retail consumer habits.
“Consequently, the properties they lease and the consumer businesses contained within those premises are consistently among the best performing real estate assets and operating entities in New Zealand’s grocery sector,“ he added
“With the city’s huge residential shift west after the Christchurch earthquakes, there are virtually no vacancies for large commercial land or tenancies.
Mr Houlker said Countdown Hornby was situated close to “The Hub” suburban shopping centre which was encircled by a well-established residential component, while also servicing the further afield lifestyle suburbs of Rolleston and Lincoln. Big box commercial tenancies in the precinct included The Warehouse, Briscoes, Rebel Sport, Harvey Norman, No1 Shoes, Pet Central, Repco, and Lighting Direct.”
“The area in and around Chappie Place is
zoned retail bulk park which has been designed and
designated to sustain large format retail activities in
selected precincts within metropolitan Christchurch,” Mr
Houlker said.
The layout of Countdown Hornby reflects what was Progressive’s new generation design implemented at the time – with the entry lobby adjacent to the trolley park and customers accessing the site through a Lotto store.
In total, the building comprising Countdown Hornby has a total floor area of 4,316 square metres – made up of 3,054 square metres of retail shopping space, 934 square metres of warehousing and storage space, 218 square metres of staff amenities, and 109 square metres of plant equipment storage.
The mezzanine level at the rear of the building encompasses partitioned offices, staff toilets, and lunchroom amenities. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete slab foundations with concrete and steel framing supporting steel roof trusses.
The property has 295 car parks which are shared with neighbouring retailers including Mitre 10, Harvey Norman and Wendys. Inside, the supermarket is fully air conditioned and is fully fitted out with an automatic fire sprinkler system with multiple hydrants and hose reels.
From a cityscape perspective, Countdown South Dunedin is located in a similar location to the Christchurch premises. The Dunedin outlet is located in a precinct zoned industrial one under Dunedin City Council’s operative district plan. Andersons Bay Road is the arterial route linking the central business district with the city’s southern and eastern suburbs.
The Andersons Bay Road property lies within one of the city’s ‘big box’ retail format and showroom destinations – some 1.5 kilometres from the city centre. Close by are the large Mitre 10 Mega and The Warehouse sites.
“Also
like Countdown Hornby, the layout of Countdown South Dunedin
has the entry lobby adjacent to the trolley park and
customers accessing the site through a Lotto store.”
In total, the building comprising Countdown South Dunedin has a total floor area of 4,071 square metres – made up of 2,849 square metres of retail shopping space, 833 square metres of warehousing and storage space, 220 square metres of staff amenities, and 94 square metres of plant equipment storage.
The mezzanine level encompasses partitioned offices,
staff toilets, and lunchroom amenities. The building is
constructed of reinforced concrete slab foundations with
concrete and steel framing supporting steel roof
trusses.
Bayleys Real Estate
New Zealand
Bayleys is New Zealand's largest full-service real estate company. We offer expertise in the marketing and sale of a wide range of property, including residential real estate, farms and lifestyle blocks, and commercial and industrial property. This includes tourism and business sales such as hotels and motels. We also cover the real estate markets in Fiji and other Pacific Islands.
Bayleys also provides a complete property and facilities service including property management and valuations teams focused on achieving both Owner and Tenant satisfaction.
No other real estate company can match our breadth of coverage across all market sectors throughout New Zealand.
Business Canterbury: Urges Council To Cut Costs, Not Ambition For City
Wellington Airport: On Track For Net Zero Emissions By 2028
Landcare Research: ANZAC Gall Fly Release Promises Natural Solution To Weed Threat
NZ Anti-Vivisection Society: Auckland Rat Lovers Unite!
University of Canterbury: $1.35 Million Grant To Study Lion-like Jumping Spiders
Federated Farmers: Government Ends War On Farming
