Commercial property sales & leasing team bolstered in Otago

Commercial property sales and leasing team bolstered in Central Otago and Southland

The forecast growth of Queenstown as a business hub for the Central Otago region has spurred leading real estate agency Bayleys to substantially bolster its commercial and industrial property sales team.

New Bayleys Queenstown director David Gubb, who recently bought a shareholding in the business, has a strong career background in commercial and industrial real estate sales – where he was consistently among New Zealand’s highest achievers in that particular property discipline. The remaining shareholding of the Queenstown business has been bought by the Bayley family.

On relocating to Queenstown, Mr Gubb said he was committed to bringing that commercial and industrial sales and leasing expertise to the region – including Cromwell and Invercargill - with the intention of building on the brand’s existing high profile in the real estate sector.

The new commercial and industrial sales team now includes long-time Queenstown resident and real estate sales professional Steven Kirk, along with Marty Barwood who returns to Bayleys Queenstown after two years away from the business. Further south, Paul Boatwood also joins the Invercargill branch of Bayleys.

Mr Gubb said the expansion of commercial and industrial staffing numbers within the team would be underpinned by Bayleys’ national presence in that property sector – utilisng both the international marketing alliance Cushman & Wakefield, and the agency’s suite of national marketing initiatives such as the Total Property magazine.

“While Bayleys Queenstown has occupied a space in the commercial and industrial property markets around the Wakatipu Basin, much of the agency’s focus over recent years has been on the markedly different residential and lifestyle sectors. This will be addressed with the strengthening of the commercial and industrial sale team running out of the office,” he said.

Mr Gubb said that as Queenstown’s population continued expanding, there would be a parallel growth in demand for commercial, industrial and retail space around the town’s periphery – particularly around the residential boundaries to the west and north.

“CBD Queenstown is very tightly ring-fenced in terms of possible commercial or retail expansion opportunities. In fact, it is one of the most tightly zoned city or town centres in New Zealand. As a consequence, the high per square metre rates in CBD Queenstown mean many more commercial and retail businesses are looking for more cost-effective space around the town fringe,” Mr Gubb said.

“We’re talking about tradesmen’s premises, bulk retail outlets, small engineering plants, convenience retail precincts, and administrative blocks, which all find that it makes economic sense to relocate to cheaper landholdings in the likes of Frankton Flats and Remarkables Park around the airport, and along Gorge Road.”

Queenstown Lakes District Council’s Commercial Land Needs report identified the region’s commercial and industrial real estate evolution several years ago.

“There has been a noticeable trend of some retail and service type activities shifting out of town,” said the report. “These shifts are driven by a desire to find larger premises with more parking as well as businesses realising increased land values (in the town centre),” the report said.

“There is high demand for small workplaces and showrooms. And yard-type activities such as trucking depots, concrete products and storage areas for construction supplies and materials are also in demand.

“A significant movement of retail and office activities to out-of-town locations has implications to the vitality to the vitality of town centres and the extent to which they function as community hubs. Retailing associated with department stores – such as footwear, clothing, appliances and household goods – should not be located in business and industrial areas.”

The Commercial Land Needs report also forecast that by 2026, office-based activities would account for 26.5 percent of jobs in the Queenstown/Wakatipu region, followed by food and beverage operations employing 16 percent of workers, retail employing 15 percent of the population, and manufacturing/construction accounting for 14 percent of the workforce.

Mr Gubb said the forecast calculations underscored Bayleys’ growth projections for commercial and industrial real estate in the region - with more and more segmentation of workplace locations and specific shopping destinations, both separate from Queenstown’s traditional CBD cultural heart.

“All of the council’s economic and population growth data points toward a positive and sustainable future for the Wakatipu Basin. This is pivotal in underpinning confidence in the residential property markets – meaning purchasers can buy with some degree of certainty, knowing they are coming into an area where long-term prosperity looks solid,” Mr Gubb said.

Bayleys’ refocused commercial and industrial team got off to a sensational start recently with the auction sale of three properties within insurance giant AMI Insurance’s portfolio.

AMI’s two Queenstown properties in the heart of the town’s compact central business district – in Shotover Street and a neighbouring property at Memorial Street - were sold jointly as one offering for more than $2.45million. The auction attracted eight registered bidders.

Bayleys Queenstown also sold AMI’s Gore office - opposite the trout sculpture in the centre of town – which sold under the auctioneer’s hammer for $233,000. There were three bidders in the auction room interested in the property, with a further three telephone bidders.

ENDS

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