Tram stop clicks the tickets for commercial investors

Date 11.7.2011

A landmark building alongside what was once one of Auckland’s main tram routes has been placed on the market for sale for the first time in 25 years.

The solidly-built 1920scharacter building in Mount Eden Road is affectionately named ‘The Tram Stop’ - after it encompassed what was previously a much smaller structure which sheltered waiting tram users from the wind and rain. The tram service along Mt Eden Road ran from the early 1900s until 1956.

Now a boutique retail block, the property is fully tenanted – with separate retail, office space, and private accommodation, as well as ancillary use of the building structure, combining to generate rental earnings of $154,619 per annum.

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The tenancy schedule within The Tram Stop building consists of:
• A cafe and gourmet foodstore occupied by Dulcie May Kitchen Ltd, which has a lease and right of renewals through until 2014
• A gourmet bakery occupied by Wild Wheat Ltd
• A men’s fashion clothing outlet occupied by Strada Fashions Ltd which has a lease and right of renewals stretching through to 2016
• An first-storey office space occupied by a small accountancy firm which has a lease and right of renewals progressing through to 2014
and
• An first-story office space and adjoining two-bedroom flat occupied by a legal services firm which has a lease and right of renewals progressing through to 2015.

Additional rental revenue is generated from prominent advertising signage on the sides of the building, as well as from having a Telecom mobile repeater on the roof which has a lease and right of renewals extending to 2019.

There are 11 car parks behind the building - which occupies 847 square metres of land. The upstairs level is accessed by a separate entrance located to one side of the building.

The Tram Stop building and land is being marketed for sale at auction on July 27 by Bayleys Auckland salesmen Nicolas Ching and James Chan, who said the diverse tenancy schedule of the property minimised the risk of relying solely on the commercial operations of just one tenant.

Mr Ching said that with a zone 1 business activity classification for the site, there was considerable potential to develop additional commercial space at the rear of the property.

“The building sits on the extreme front border of the land, along a 19.8 metre stretch of a high profile arterial transport route. The positioning of the retail units allows for the potential to further develop the rear of the site into a modern multi-level commercial office space with parking facilities on the ground floor. Concept plans have been drawn up for such a development on that rear portion of the land,” he said.

“As a retail location, Mt Eden has very much of a ‘village’ feel to it – supported by a high socio-economic population. This demographic supports the ‘boutique’ nature of the retail and professional services within The Tram Stop building.”

ENDS

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