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Two multimillionaire Auckland-based commercial landlords have sold a supermarket, valued at $30 million-plus, in a deal brokered by Colliers.
Blair Peterken, Colliers’ capital markets director, announced the sale of the property valued at $33.4m by Auckland Council.
A company owned by Ben Cook and Kurt Gibbons - who also developeda new Herne Bay Countdown - were the vendors.
“Sold - Countdown Māngere East,” Peterken said, noting he worked with colleague Ben Cockram.
Cook and Gibbons held that property in a company called Kremlin Māngere. Cook owns the majority but Gibbons has 49 per cent.
No price or buyer was announced but the value makes the deal one of the largest this year. Colliers said the property was 1.4ha, freehold and had three buildings with 5200sq m of floor space.
Of that, the largest is the 4247sq m block leased to Countdown, owned by ASX-owned Woolworths Group.
That supermarket has a new 10-year lease, giving the buyer a long-term income stream from one of Australasia’s largest businesses.
Kurt Gibbons and Ben Cook developed the new Countdown metro in Herne Bay. Photo / Michael Craig
The property was owned by Kremlin Mangere, incorporated in 2020, with Ben Cook and associate Gibbons as directors. Cook Property owns 51 per cent of the business and Gibbons of Herne Bay has the other 49 per cent.
Cook and Gibbons also developed the new $50m, 4000sq m Metro Herne Bay with 56 basement car parks. The pair developed and own the building at 1 Kelmarna Ave on the site of the former Stables which they bought from Mansons TCLM. They hold the new Jervois Rd shop in their jointly-owned company Manhattan Capital, which Gibbons said had around $250m of real estate, including other supermarkets and shops.
The Herald reported in 2021 that Cook had struck a deal with Woolworths which had committed to a 12-year lease on the 1800sq m store with 54 car parks where a construction contract has been let.
Gibbons said Herne Bay didn’t have a supermarket and the business had struck a long-term lease with Woolworths.
Out at Māngere, the Countdown is far bigger than the metro in the city.
It has two other buildings on the site too. The other 1029sq m of floor space is two smaller buildings which are KFC, owned by NZX listed Restaurant Brands, a pharmacy and a medical centre.
All up, the property produces $1.7m in annual rent. Countdown pays 78 per cent of that, Colliers said in advertising the property.
The big Countdown property which also includes KFC and other retailers. Photo / Colliers
Cook Property Group is a privately held group of companies whose holdings include the historic former Ponsonby Post Office.
“We are one of the leading private property investment companies in Australasia,” that business says. “The group’s core business is long-term commercial property investment. The portfolio has a strong bias to grocery and large-format retail. Cook Property Group has a strong balance sheet with conservative borrowing levels and is an active investor in Australia and New Zealand.”
Cook lists Countdowns at Aotea, Feilding, Howick, Orewa, Rotorua and Papakura in his company’s portfolio. Other large-format retail properties are Bunnings Hamilton, New Lynn and Westgate, along with Kmart Te Rapa and FreshChoice Edgeware.
This year’s biggest retail property sale was an $85.7m deal for a 28-store Auckland centre quit by an NZX-listed business.
The $3b landlord, Kiwi Property Group, sold the Westgate Lifestyle Centre at NZ Retail Property Group’s new town centre on a site opposite the $100m-plus Costco Warehouse on the city’s northwestern outskirts.
Westgate Lifestyle Centre outlined in blue when it was marketed by Colliers. Costco is shown to the lower left. Photo / Colliers
Real estate agency Whillans Realty Group said it had closed the sale, describing it as 2023′s largest so far.
Clive Mackenzie, Kiwi chief executive, said a joint venture bought the property: half Harvey Norman and half interests associated with Rod Duke.
Managing director Bruce Whillans and Colliers international sales director of capital markets Richard Kirke were contracted to sell the centre. Whillans brokered it.
Expressions of interest were due by last November and Kiwi cited the sale when analysts asked recently about the $1b that the company had borrowed.
Harvey Norman, Freedom Furniture, Hunter Furniture, Briscoes and Rebel Sport are the centre’s anchor tenants but Warehouse Stationery, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bedpost, Flex Fitness, Godfreys, Kitchen Things, Lighting Direct and Nood also have outlets there, paying a net annual rent of around $6m.
The Herald reported last month that this year’s second-largest retail property sale was by Asset Plus quitting its Mt Roskill bulk retail centre for $36.7m last month.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, having won many awards, written books, founded the National Business Review’s property section in 1985 and covered property extensively here and overseas. She joined the Herald in 2000.
