Big West Auckland Opportunity

Over three hectares of land in Henderson with approximately 27,000 sq m of near-new commercial and industrial buildings have been placed on the market.

Located at 158-164 Central Park Drive, Henderson, the property which contains a mix of bulk retail, warehousing, office and ancillary facilities spread over two levels is for sale with vacant possession. The property was designed and built for the Nido Living business, which went into receivership in December and will cease occupation shortly following a closing-down sale.

The property sale by mortgagee tender is being handled by Bayleys’ agents Sunil Bhana, Steve Rendall and Mike Houlker.

“An offering of this scale is a rarity, not only in West Auckland, but also the greater Auckland region,” says Bhana. “It provides multiple options to occupy, repurpose or redevelop this strongly located, high profile property.”

The property encompasses (all building measurements approximate):

• 31,373 sq m of level land with direct frontage to Central Park Drive of approximately 26 metres and access also from Soljan Drive via Lincoln Drive.
• A ground floor retail area of just under 10,000 sq m with a high-stud entrance lobby plus offices and amenities.
• A similarly sized first floor retail/showroom area with escalator and lift access plus a 673 sq m, 340-seat café and commercial kitchen.
• 3,523 sq m of warehousing plus a 1,294 sq m loading area, accessible via two roller doors from Soljan Drive.
• Above the loading area, an open plan office area together with server room and other ancillary facilities totalling 1,397 sqm provides uninterrupted views eastwards, including of the Auckland CBD and Sky Tower.
• 325 open-air carparks at ground level, adjacent to the building.

Bhana says the property is expected to appeal to a wide range of owner occupiers, add value investors and entrepreneurial developers who see potential to re-position the asset.

“We will be ascertaining whether there is interest in the premises from national and international large-format retailers. However, the site’s Light Industry zoning overlaid by the current consent for retail use opens up a lot of possibilities for prospective purchasers.

“We will be encouraging purchasers to consider how the ground floor retail space could be divided to accommodate a mixture of bulk retail tenants perhaps with some smaller tenancies. Subject to obtaining any necessary consents, the upstairs area might suit a gymnasium, restaurants, health care or education providers, for example, or could potentially be converted to good quality office accommodation.

“While the warehousing and loading areas were designed to support and integrate into the operation of the retail business, they could be adapted for use by one or more industrial users, again with any necessary consents obtained. There’s a scarcity of modern, high stud industrial premises available for occupation in Henderson.”

Steve Rendall says there is a building consent to construct a further level of parking above existing carparks. There could also be the possibility of developing more industrial or commercial premises on some of the land currently allocated to carparking. “There are multiple angles to add more value to this property’s already substantial underlying land value,” he says.

Mike Houlker says the property benefits from excellent exposure to both Central Park Drive and nearby main arterial Lincoln Road.

“One of its big attractions is proximity to the North-Western Motorway which is a very short drive away. This provides ease of access to the greater Auckland region and importantly, significantly increases the catchment for retail offerings in the area.

“While under its current configuration the property is suitable for use by other large format retailers, it also presents a wide range of alternative use and redevelopment possibilities enhanced by the fact that it is only minutes from Auckland’s motorway network.”

Tenders for the property close on Wednesday, April 14.

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