Kiwi Property Group secures conditional deal to sell Northlands shopping mall

Northlands shopping mall in the Christchurch suburb of Papanui is one of the city's busiest shopping centres. Photo / CC BY-SA 4.0, Michal Klajban

Kiwi Property Group has secured a conditional deal to sell one of Christchurch's busiest shopping centres.

The big retail and diversified property investor has agreed to sell Northlands mall in Papanui for $160 million to Queenstown-based MP Holdings 5 Limited, managed by Mackersy Property.

Kiwi Property said the sale was part of its ongoing strategy to focus on developing mixed-use town centres.

Mackersy would retain $9m to complete earthquake strengthening works.

Kiwi Property said the deal was subject to approval by its board and consent to the transfer of a ground lease over part of the car park from the landlord.

Kiwi Property would continue to manage Northlands on behalf of Mackersy and has also agreed to provide vendor finance of up to $75m to settle the deal, if needed.

"The sale of Northlands is an important step in our capital recycling programme. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to fund the company's exciting mixed-use development pipeline and provide further balance sheet flexibility," Kiwi Property chief executive Clive Mackenzie said.

Mackersy was founded as Mitchell and Mackersy in 1982 in Dunedin and rebranded to its current name in 2020.

According to its website, Mackersy manages 147 syndicate-owned commercial properties and 40 privately owned commercial properties on behalf of more than 2000 investors.

The sale of Northlands is expected to settle on or before 30 November.