Retail giant Foodstuffs buys Otaika shopping centre

Foodstuffs bought the Otaika shopping centre at auction for $3.8m. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Foodstuffs has bought the popular Otaika Shopping Centre but does not have immediate plans to convert the site into a supermarket.

The retail giant, which owns Four Square, Pak'nSave and New World, paid $3.8 million at an auction last month for the shopping centre and will allow retailers in the centre to continue until their leases run out.

Most of the retailers have 10-year leases that expire in 2027. Foodstuffs will have to honour the existing leases unless businesses decide to opt out.

The building consists of eight businesses, including the Otaika Four Square, Aussie Butcher, Liquorland, Otaika Dairy, a pharmacy that doubled in size since it began operating since 1983 and now has 16 staff, Four Square and Lotto and Post Shop. There are 60 car parks spread either side of the complex, which can be entered either from the 150m State Highway 1 frontage on to Otaika Rd, or from the rear.

"We are constantly listening to customer feedback and monitoring population growth to meet the needs and wants of our communities in which we operate. We have no plans to convert the shopping centre into a supermarket at this time," Foodstuffs spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said.

She said the shopping centre was in an ideal location with well-established local businesses that catered to Kiwis' daily needs.

Built in the 1960s and expanded in the 1970s, the entire building is located on 2799sq m of freehold land zoned Business 3 for suburban retail use.

Situated beside SH1 at the southern entrance to Whangārei, it was sold through Bayleys Whangārei after the death of the building owner.

The building has a rating valuation of $2.4m, though that is expected to change once new valuations for Whangārei come out before the end of the year.