Mitre 10 buys back site

Obviously the figures added up for it to be more economic for the company to own ... Ross Blomfield, Bayleys WhangareiMitre 10 New Zealand has turned the clock back by buying the former Mitre 10 Home & Trade land and buildings at the Regent, six years after selling the property to the publicly listed DNZ Property Fund.

The 38-year-old company occasionally sells land and buildings on a lease-back arrangement to release funds for new stores but Mitre 10 NZ national property manager Tony Bullock says to his knowledge the company has never bought back a property it has previously owned.

The building has been empty since the Mitre 10 Home & Trade store was replaced by the new Mitre 10 Megastore in Porowini Ave on July 31, meaning from that point the company was paying rent for an unoccupied building.

Ross Blomfield of Bayleys Whangarei, who is marketing the building in tandem with Bayleys Auckland, says various options have been explored with potential lessees in the past few months but working through the options for lease arrangements within the Mitre 10 lease, which had five years to run, had proved complicated, especially where multiple tenancies were being considered.

The buy-back rendered the lease null and void and gave the company more flexibility with leasing arrangements.

"Also obviously the figures added up for it to be more economic at this point for the company to own the land and buildings than to keep on paying rent," Mr Blomfield said.

He said the complex could be reconfigured to allow for multiple tenancies for an operation such as a retail centre. A concept plan has been drawn up which splits the main building into two tenancies, of 1732sq m and 1263sq m. Existing plumbing and toilet facilities at each end of the building allow for potential division, as well as the multiple points of access into the complex. The site is zoned business activity 3. There are 90 car parks, which could be increased to up to 120 by using some of the outdoor area formerly occupied by Mitre 10's garden centre, and access from both Kamo Rd and Manse St.

Mitre 10 has three categories of store: Mega, Home & Trade and Solutions.