Director guarantees a leaseback offer on prime office building

The low-maintenance office space at 25 Union St, Freemans Bay has views to the city and Ponsonby ridge. Photo / Supplied

Maclean Investment Holdings is selling its four-level office building at 25 Union St, Freemans Bay with a personal guarantee by director Allan Maclean that Maclean Computing will lease the property from the new owner from the date of settlement.

The property is currently leased to Maclean Computing on an annual rental of $450,000 plus GST per annum for six years, plus two three-year rights of renewal with Macleans paying all outgoings.

Cam Paterson and Mike Symonds of Barfoot and Thompson Commercial, who have been appointed to sell the property by deadline private treaty closing at 3pm on Thursday May 6, say the proposed rental has been computed on the basis of just under $180 per sq m for the office space and $50 per week for each carpark.

The concrete building, with a lettable area of 1766sq m, has 57 covered carparks of which 34 are located in the basement.

Paterson says the 161.49sq m ground level has a small office tenancy and the balance of that level has 23 carparks.

The first level of the building comprises 814.55sq m of office space, while the second floor has 789.99sq m of offices. "The fit out is a mix of partitioned and open-plan office space accessed by two lifts and two sets of stairs," Paterson says. "The building, which occupies a 1146sq m freehold rectangular site, has suspended ceilings and air-conditioning throughout."

Maclean sub-leases space to two other tenants, Media Monitors and Resolution Audio.

Symonds says the property fronts on to Union St, with views over Wellington St up to the Ponsonby ridge and Karangahape Rd to the south and west with views over the Victoria Quarter and onto the Waitemata Harbour.

"Union St carries traffic originating from the southbound and northwestern motorways via Cook St to the inner city suburbs of Newton and Ponsonby," Symonds says. "It is also a link to the major inner city motorway interchange between north, west and south bound motorways."

He says the building's closeness to the CBD, its ease of access to the motorway system and major arterial routes make it an ideal site with prime redevelopment prospects.

The site's intensities allow for a basic floor area ratio of 3.5 to 1 with bonuses available for a maximum total floor area of 5:1, equating to a potential development size of 4007.5sq m to 5725sq m. "This property is an excellent proposition for investors in the form of a good-quality building in a tenant-friendly location, with stability of income from a six-year lease to an established company," Paterson says.

"Well built in the late 1980s from concrete and steel, it's a sturdy low-maintenance building offering high-stud office space with plenty of natural light and unrestricted views to the city and Ponsonby ridge.

"Additionally, it is within the future growth region of Victoria Quarter, making it a location of note for development."