Corner retail site best block in the bay

The property on the corner of Kinross St and Blockhouse Bay Rd has recorded no vacancies for the past 15 years.

Multi-tenanted property at busy Blockhouse Bay junction has good history of occupation, opportunities

An Auckland suburban retail block with six tenants and significant opportunities for development is for sale for the first time in 20 years on a premium corner location near the Blockhouse Bay shopping centre.

Marketed by Adam White and Oscar Kuang of Colliers International, the single titled, 1158sq m property at 507-509 Blockhouse Bay Rd will be auctioned at 11am on Tuesday, December 16 at Colliers' auction room at 151 Queen St, Auckland, unless it sells earlier by negotiation.

"Quality, multi-tenanted, suburban retail and commercial investments like this, with excellent histories of occupation, are always very popular with buyers," he says.

"With a well-established mix of retail tenants, and a net rental return of $164,917 a year, this investment offers a solid, diversified income stream in a price bracket which is accessible to a large number of individual investors.

"The freehold property has a large car park of about 400sq m housing 16 vehicles which is a convenience benefit for customers and also presents potential for development."

White says the current site coverage is at 60 per cent but an allowance of up to 80 per cent is flagged under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.

"An add-value scenario of this magnitude broadens the property's appeal to a much wider range of investors. The proposed zoning also provides for multiple activities including commercial, leisure, residential, cultural, community and civic services, adding to the significant flexibility for development."

The building has a net lettable area of 720.6sq m with the majority of the building at road level. It encompasses an 80sq m second-level space housing technical equipment for telecommunications company Vodafone and broadband internet provider Woosh, which operate aerials on the roof.

Other tenants include a Westpac Bank branch occupying 272sq m, a physiotherapy service, a barber and a United Video store leasing 286sq m which incorporates an ice cream shop and Lotto dairy. The leases for the two major tenants, Westpac and United Video, do not expire until 2020.

"The property has recorded no vacancies for the past 15 years which proves the attractiveness of this location along with the presence of commercial banks like the ANZ and ASB just a few metres along on the same side of the road."

Kuang says the wide corner site fronting both Kinross St and Blockhouse Bay Rd offers good profile and signage opportunities with 14,000 vehicles passing daily. It's also only a 20-minute drive to Auckland's CBD.

"There is also potential for the rentals to be raised to bring them in to line with current market rents, providing a short-term income growth opportunity."

The building is on Business 2 zoned land, designed for suburban shopping and dining activities, with a maximum development height of 9m. Under the proposed Unitary Plan, the site would be zoned Town Centre, a designation applying to centres on main arterial roads, which provide good public transport access.

"The large established surrounding residential catchment, the affordable rentals and the main road location of the shops means they will always be popular for a range of retail occupiers," Kuang says.

John Bowring, national auction manager at Colliers International, says: "We expect it to appeal to investors in the wider Auckland region and around the country looking for affordable, established investments with diversified income streams."