Property For Industry has developed the new $76m building in East Tāmaki. Video / Property For Industry
NZX-listed landlord Property For Industry, with $2.1 billion of real estate, has completed a giant new Auckland warehouse for Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which has started moving in.
Property For Industry (PFI) chief executive Simon Woodhams said the building at Springs Rd in East Tāmaki was a $76 millioninvestment for his company and let on a 15-year term.
The 25,500sq m building is leased to the appliance company until 2039 for Haier and Fisher & Paykel Appliances to be imported, stored then distributed from that warehouse.
The appliance business, with a long history of many decades based in East Tāmaki and links to that community, also has a distribution service centre in Christchurch.
The Auckland warehouse is one of New Zealand’s biggest industrial developments to target a five-star green status and has been built on land the appliance business previously owned, but sold to PFI.
The development also completed the first stage of transforming the ex-F&P Appliance-owned underused industrial area into a 10ha warehouse and storage estate, Woodhams said.
The new Fisher & Paykel Appliances warehouse in Springs Rd, East Tāmaki in Auckland, is owned by Property For Industry and leased to the appliance giant. Photo / Property For Industry
PFI was developing on the F&P Appliances site, which it bought under a sale and leaseback deal in 2009, he said.
The listed real estate business could expand the F&P Appliances warehouse to 30,000sq m if its tenant needed that, Woodhams said.
The appliance giant was once locally owned, but in more recent years has been owned by Chinese multinational home appliance company Haier and its devices remain extremely popular with Kiwis.
Eliza Humphreys, the appliance giant’s operations general manager, said completion of the new distribution centre was a milestone.
“This will future-proof us and cater to increased sales volumes with our retailer and builder partners while allowing for our expansion into new technologies and business models,” she said.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances held a deep cultural connection to Auckland, particularly to East Tāmaki for more than half a century.
“We believe strongly in tradition and legacy and as part of our move to new offices in 2026, we are proud to retain that connection with East Tāmaki, both in our physical presence,” she said.
PFI investors and analysts went on a tour of a new appliance warehouse, another PFI property at Bowden Rd, Mt Wellington, Auckland, on October 30.
Hayden & Rollett built the warehouse, which took 15 months to complete, Woodhams said.
The company owns 91 properties leased to 128 tenants, mainly in Auckland. The company made $51.7m profit after tax in its latest year, up on the $21.2m previously. Valuations on its investment portfolio have stabilised.
The warehouse is purpose-built for Fisher & Paykel Appliances. Photo / Property For Industry
The Springs Rd development is a three-stage project with two other warehouses planned.
PFI chairman Dean Bracewell told the company’s AGM on October 23 the business had also signed a design-and-build agreement with global manufacturer MiTek to develop 6500sq m of warehouse. MiTek will anchor stage two of the redevelopment, with the balance of 4800sq m of warehouse space to be developed on a speculative basis.
Early works for stage two are expected to begin at the start of next year, with the project targeted to be completed in mid-to-late 2026.
Plans for the balance of the site allow for about 17,500sq m of warehouse with 500sq m of office, 4200 sqm of breezeway and canopies and 2300sq m of yard.
The timing of that third stage would be tenant-led, Bracewell told shareholders.
Not just a new DC
In a separate development unrelated to PFI and the new East Tāmaki warehouse, Fisher & Paykel Appliances is developing a new head office in Great South Rd, Penrose, near Fletcher Building’s headquarters.
A new three-building global headquarters is well under construction. No valuation has been put on that but the Herald has previously reported it as a $220m project even though executives won’t comment.
Mark Elmore, vice-president of design and brand for the Kiwi brand, said Naylor Love was contracted for two of the three new Penrose buildings, with the third to be a carpark, but a tenant on the site is yet to complete their lease.
“For us, this is the next platform for Fisher & Paykel Appliances to grow globally – a purpose-built research and design facility very close to a train station,” Elmore said last year when the new HQ was announced.
A three-level, cross-laminated mass timber office block is rising at 830 Great South Rd and designs were completed by RTA Studio and consultant project manager TSA Management.
Then, there’s the new experience centre
And in a third property move, the appliance giant last year opened an upmarket experience centre aimed mainly at overseas designers, buyers and architects.
The 4000-year-old swamp kauri log at the heart of the new Fisher & Paykel Auckland Experience Centre. Photo / Michael Craig
That property, at 199 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn, has flatscreens showcasing our scenery, including West Coast beaches and a 4000-year-old sculptural trunk of swamp kauri is split lengthwise to uncover the contours of its natural heart.
In-house dining is offered via a 9.5m “waka table” for 22 people with Simon James chairs.
That has been designed to represent the entrepreneurial spirit of Pāora Tūhaere, the Ngāti Whātua chief who bought a schooner in 1863 and sailed between here and Rarotonga, establishing trade routes and enduring connections.
The interior design was by Rufus Knight. Six display kitchens showcase appliances.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
