Double delight Quay Park tower sale

Elevated view of twin tower buildings at 32-34 Mahuhu Crescent in Auckland city's Quay Park precinct with NZInvest House in foreground.

A twin tower building leased by several international companies in Auckland's Quay Park waterfront commercial area, is the latest city office complex to come up for sale.

NZInvest House, at 32-34 Mahuhu Crescent, comprises two adjoining seven level and six level buildings and is featured in Colliers International's New Zealand Portfolio magazine to be launched this weekend.

"The complex has an impressive tenant profile with several major global firms in occupation offering premium covenants," says Peter Herdson Colliers' national director who, with colleagues Andrew Reed and John Green, is marketing the two buildings for sale by international private treaty closing at 4 pm on Thursday October 2.

Both buildings totaling 7288 sq m of net lettable space were completed in 2002 on a 2640 sq m, 150-year leasehold site.

Key tenants include Rayonier NZ Ltd, CMA CGM & ANL Agencies (NZ) Ltd, and NZInvest Ltd. Among the other tenants are HiFX Ltd owned by NASDAQ-listed Euronet; Nokia Solutions and Networks NZ Ltd; and Ngati Whatua Orakei as the ground lessor.

Herdson says the twin towers are connected together in a landscaped setting that is the hallmark of the area. Both buildings share a common basement containing 69 car parks and a central core with three lift access and two sets of stairwells.

The major tenant, Rayonier NZ Limited, is a leading international forest products company and joint owner of New Zealand's third largest forest estate. With shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the company has offices on three continents and more than 1800 employees. Rayonier occupies 17 per cent of the property on a 13 year lease that began in June 2010.

CMA CGM & ANL Agencies is one of the world's largest container shipping companies and holds the signage rights to 34 Mahuhu Crescent with a lease for 14 per cent of the office area.

NZInvest Ltd, a full service property investment business, occupies 12 per cent of the office area and has the naming rights to the building and signage rights to 32 Mahuhu Crescent.

Reed says the property provides an overall weighted average lease term of about 3.8 years and current net passing income of around $1.6 million a year. "It also offers fixed rental growth and market rental growth which will be a major attraction to investors."

Green says the buildings have an excellent profile with wide exposure to Quay St and occupying a prominent position within a fast growing and developing city commercial location dominated by well-known brands likeAecom, GE and BNZ.

"This is a great opportunity to buy an outstanding property adjacent to the Vector Arena in Auckland's emerging waterfront commercial office precinct," Green says.

"Positioned just to the east of the city's retail centre, the Quay Park precinct is a relatively new business district that has sprung up over the past 15 years between Britomart and the Vector Arena," he says.

"Within walking distance of the CBD and near the Britomart transport and commercial centre with its numerous cafés, bars, shops and restaurants, it is an attractive waterfront location for current and prospective tenants."

The property sale follows Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Rawa's purchase of Aecom House, a new office building at 8 Mahuhu Crescent, for close to $70 million.

Reed says quality Auckland office buildings are beung acquired by a range of onshore and offshore investors, "Strong economic forecasts indicate Auckland is the market to be investing in for future growth," he says.