The Downtown Carpark is to be redeveloped. Photo / Supplied
The Downtown Carpark is to be redeveloped. Photo / Supplied
NZX-listed landlord Precinct Properties will work with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei to redevelop a valuable car park site a block from the waterfront.
Scott Pritchard, company chief executive, told today’s shareholder annual meeting that the two were working on plans for Auckland Council’s Downtown Carpark where Precinct has already been pickedas top contender.
The building’s owner and council-controlled entity Eke Panuku Development Auckland, named Precinct as the preferred partner to redevelop the low-rise car park, working with the Māori entity.
The publicly-owned site is one of the only ones in the block the giant landlord doesn’t own. No plans have yet emerged in the new joint venture scheme.
Precinct’s HSBC Tower and its Aon offices are on the block between Lower Albert St, Quay St, Lower Hobson St and Customs St West. The M Social Auckland is also on that block.
“I am delighted to share with you that Eke Panuku has selected Precinct as the preferred development partner for the Downtown Carpark site. Precinct has partnered with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as part of the proposal for the site, with the relationship encompassing cultural, design and commercial elements. Precinct and Eke Panuku have now entered a period of commercial negotiations with the intent to agree and document final terms, which will remain subject to Precinct and Eke Panuku Board approval,” Pritchard said.
The seven-level car park will be demolished and a skyscraper to rival the $1b Commercial Bay PwC Tower could be developed on the land, the Herald has previously reported.
The Herald reported in February how Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s bottom-line profits have been boosted by nearly quarter-of-a-billion-dollar asset growth in the powerhouse real estate asset class where it holds many of its assets. Accounts for the year to June 30, 2021, showed a $243m net gain from its investment property assets, up on the far more conservative $43m gain the previous year for the tangata whenua of central Tāmaki Makaurau. Investment property assets are now valued at $1.4b, up from $1.1b previously and the iwi is conservatively geared against rising interest rates with only a 16 per cent loan-to-value ratio.
Latest accounts show net profit before tax of $254m for the June 2021 year, up on the $58m previously, with total comprehensive income at $251m, up on $55m.
Today, Precinct shareholders also heard how that company had access to new capital after a deal with a Singaporean government entity which would become a $1 billion entity within the next year
The company had settled the deal last month to create the new entity, he said.
The Charles Fergusson Building, Wellington: one of the four buildings in a deal Precinct struck with Singaporeans. Photo / Supplied
In September, the Herald reported how Precinct can go ahead with a deal to sell Singapore’s Reco Pacific Private a half share in four properties valued at $382 million to free up capital.
A half share of two Auckland and two Wellington office blocks have been sold to Reco Pacific Private but the Kiwi company kept a 50 per cent interest in those buildings via a newly established entity.
Precinct Pacific Investment Limited Partnership - half the Kiwi landlord and half Reco Pacific Private - jointly owns Wellington’s Charles Fergusson Building at 38 Bowen St, Mayfair House, at 54 The Terrace in Wellington and 10 and 12 Madden St in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, near the waterfront.
Shareholders also heard of significant leasing activity.
“It is remarkable to think that from January 2021 to December 2021, Precinct recorded its highest-ever amount of leasing, right in the middle of the pandemic. In total, we recorded more than 34,000sq m which demonstrates the strong demand from businesses wanting to occupy high-quality office space. We are observing this in both Auckland and Wellington where office leasing demand for high-quality buildings in strategic locations continues to be elevated, especially as we see working from home declining as more occupiers return to the physical office environment. For example, our current assessment is that 80-85 per cent of workers are now back in our Auckland portfolio,” Pritchard said.
Since Precinct internalised its management last March, it had the ability to join investors like Singaporeans to progress large-scale development opportunities.
Precinct has a market capitalisation of $1.9b. Its shares are today trading around $1.21, down a quarter annually.
