Pier 21, now owned by a Winton company. Photo / Supplied
Pier 21, now owned by a Winton company. Photo / Supplied
A prime 1.2ha Auckland waterfront site and marina has been sold to a company associated with a $794 million NZX-listed entity.
Pier 21 is a marine centre, offices, warehousing, marine retail, a dry stack boat storage, hardstand yard space, marina and around 20 tenancies of commercial and hospitality businesses.
Asone of the largest privately-held marine land holdings in the CBD, the land and buildings and marina lease have all been bought by Pier 21 Holdings, wholly owned by Chris Meehan's Winton Holdings which has a $794m market capitalisation today.
Meehan confirmed the Pier 21 purchase and also said today he also previously bought a site of around 5000sq m nearby from a Mansons TCLM business and he has plans for a retirement village there.
"That's destined to be a Northbrook retirement village. It's the only freehold block in the Viaduct," Meehan said of the approximately 5000sq m of land.
"We've also bought Pier 21 because it's adjacent so we've bought that as an adjunct to that. We still haven't decided what we'll build on that site. It is likely to be more amenities for the retirement village."
Pier 21 was sold by Spencer family interests. Agents CBRE said Pier 21 had been in family ownership for around 25 years.
"We're really pleased. It's a nice corner of the Wynyard Quarter. You get the western sun and a sheltered bay. We intend to refurbish both the dry dock and the marina and Winton will occupy the office building in due course," Meehan said.
Peter Gordon's restaurant, Homeland, leases premises from the Pier 21 business.
CBRE said tenants in the four-level 4325sq m Pier 21 building include JCDecaux, Radiant Health, Gulf Group Marine Brokers, Zoom Health, Xelocity and the Northern Pathway JV.
The two-level Baileys Building has a further 1244sq m of retail accommodation. Tenants there include Global Dive, Southern Spars, Windcraft Ownaship, Johnny Wray cafe, 36 Degree Brokers and World Power, CBRE said when marketing the Pier 21 property last June.
The commercial premises has 61 basement carparks and a further 59 carparks.
Meehan said today around 20 tenants occupy buildings there.
The dry stack facility was purpose-built for storing, launching and retrieving boats up to 9.3m and provides 187 dry berths.
Chris Meehan of Winton Land. Photo / Supplied
The marina has 68 wet berths; 22 are used for the operation of the dry stack facility. The marina and part of the dry stack facility occupy a 9628sq m water space licence, which has a 35-year term extending to 2055, CBRE said last year.
Zoning permits much greater site coverage than the current building footprints, making future development on the yard space a value-add possibility, the agents said then.
Pier 21 had gone up for sale at a time when the surrounding area is being transformed with extensive redevelopment, with Wynyard Quarter set to become one of New Zealand's largest urban regeneration projects, they said last year.
Wynyard Quarter development is expected to continue for another 20 years and the precinct will eventually be home to about 3000 residents and 25,000 workers, the agents said.
Winton has been planning its Northbrook village model in the Wynyard Quarter for some time.
Around 150 premium living apartments and a 40-bed hospital are envisaged.
Winton listed on the NZX in December.
Shares have been trading down from the $3.72 then to around $2.68 today.
