KEY POINTS:
The first of a new breed of Auckland drive-through truck service centres, which will recycle water from vehicle-washing operations, will open its doors early next year at East Tamaki.
Broadway Developments and Drinkrow Industrial Estates have joined forces to develop a dedicated truck centre on 11,000sq m of
land on the corner of Neales and Cryers Rds. Once developed, it will be owned and managed by Drinkrow Industrial Estates.
The land is part of an 8.5ha site that was quarried and is now set aside for Highbrook East industrial park. Anchor tenants, VTNZ and Autotreads have been signed up for the truck service centre and will open early next year.
Negotiations are under way with a truck wash company.
The three tenancies will be spread across 6000sq m and there is another 5000sq m for other truck-related industries, such as vehicle repairers, workshops, showrooms and offices.
Colliers International South Auckland industrial brokers Stephen Murdoch and Dwayne Warby say the centre at Highbrook East industrial park is ideal for businesses regarded as heavy industrial users. "The new truck centre's historic Manukau City Council Business 6 zoning allows the widest range of industrial activity and tenants can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
VTNZ is leasing a big two-lane station to cater for the new heavy vehicle brake rule legislation requiring trucks to be tested under load for a certificate of fitness. Property manager Matt Bell says VTNZ staff will be able to simulate a load within the lane, so truck drivers don't have to bring laden vehicles in for testing.
Bell says the truck centre's location at the end of the 3.5km Highbrook Drive, within easy access to the new motorway interchange, makes it ideal for a testing station.
One of Manukau's biggest transport projects, the $74 million Highbrook Drive, has opened up direct access to East Tamaki, a key economic and employment hub for the city.
Autotreads owner John O'Donnell has been in the trucking business for 35 years and says the site and location were a deciding factor in his move, along with bigger drive-through premises. "It was preferable to the Manukau alternatives we were looking at."
O'Donnell, who bought Autotreads six years ago, has been operating his East Tamaki business from Greenmount Drive premises, which he says are too small and restrictive.
"Our new premises will give us the room to handle alignments for five heavy units at the same time, compared to one at Greenmount Drive. During pre-alignment checks we have had to turn people away while repairs are carried out and ask them to come back to complete the certified alignment.
"At the new premises we will be able to do all work on site. And being located next to a VTNZ station will be a big advantage."
Broadway Developments' development manager Kim Hughes says it is intended the truck wash will be fully recyclable. "Plans are in place to develop a US-designed and supplied fully automated drive-through state-of-the-art truck wash. All water used will be treated underground and reused for washing trucks."
Hughes says the truck service centre has been more than a year in the making, from leasing the land to lodging resource and building consents. Its corner site has been preserved and will be developed over time.
"The site provides a genuine centre for truck services," says Murdoch. "The needs of tenants are highly specialised and land-intensive because of the large turning areas required by trucks. It is rare to have enough land and a developer with the commitment to build such a centre."
Warby says synergy has already been created through the mix of tenants on the property and "we can see this being propelled further by complementary businesses setting up at the centre. The country's economic pulse is increasingly connected to that part of the economy which is largely generated within South Auckland."
The council says Manukau is rapidly becoming the economic powerhouse of New Zealand. It generates around 7 per cent of the national GDP (gross domestic product) and 20 per cent of the Auckland region's GDP. The city's GDP has grown over the past 10 years by 3 to 6 per cent per annum, which is above the national and regional average, although along with the rest of the country has now slowed.
In that time, says Warby, Manukau has become the transport hub of New Zealand and the council is doing its bit by providing an excellent platform for economic growth and development, particularly in East Tamaki, Manukau and in the vicinity of the airport.
"Increasing traffic congestion is helping East Tamaki grow. We are seeing this with a big growth in small business precincts in the past year and some tenants are now discounting the industrial areas nearer the city as traffic flows limit their ability to operate efficiently."
Murdoch says Highbrook East industrial park is bounded by some of Auckland's busiest arterial routes, making it easily accessible with high exposure to passing traffic. "The site is attracting a wide range of tenants who identify with the commercial demographics of the industrial park."
Hughes says because of tightening market conditions the project has been a good way to unlock the value of its land. "We have had to approach the project with creativity and flexibility in the design and putting the leases together. For example, large yard areas for truck movements will be developed as common areas and rent shared among the centre's businesses.
"By structuring deals to provide good long-term returns, the development has met the goals of all parties involved."
The truck service centre is the latest development for Highbrook East industrial park. New York Stock Exchange-listed data storage company Iron Mountain will lease a purpose-designed, 20,000sq m office, vault shredder and high-stud warehouse being built over the next 10 months in three stages on 4ha.
Hughes says more money will be spent on racking in the fully automated building than would normally be spent on an entire building.
Iron Mountain has more than $2 billion in revenues, 20,000 employees and 1000 facilities in 37 countries across five continents. The company moved into the Australasian market in 2005 when it bought Pickfords Records Management and a year later the operations of DigiGuard.
Broadway Developments has designed and built commercial property in the greater Auckland area for more than 20 years. Its specialty is unlocking the development potential of sites and adding value through design. It has recently focused on providing infrastructure and commercial centres to new and emerging areas such as East Tamaki and Botany.