The five-level retail and office building for sale at 33-35 Robert St, Whangārei. Photo / Supplied
The five-level retail and office building for sale at 33-35 Robert St, Whangārei. Photo / Supplied
A five-level, fully-leased retail and office building occupying a prominent corner site is for sale in Whangārei's central business district.
"The tenants say their building has arguably the best location in the city," says John Binning of JLL who, with NAI Harcourts agent Peter Peeters, is marketing 33-35 Robert St for sale via an expressions of interest campaign closing at 4pm on Wednesday, June 13.
Binning says the freehold building comprises ground floor retail and four levels of office occupying a 718sq m site on Robert St at its intersection with James St.
"This centrally positioned building, which has 17 basement carparks, also has three major car park facilities within 200 metres.
"The premises are fully leased with a total floor area of about 3556sq m, of which 2508sq m is lettable space.
"Even in difficult times, this building has had a consistently high occupancy. With a passing income of $425,000 per annum and weighted average lease term of 2.7 years, the owner has ensured the property is well maintained with a recent upgrading of the first three floors," says Binning.
Built in 1973, the property's annual operating expenses are fairly consistent at around $30 to $37 per sq m. Each level of the building has air conditioning, toilet facilities, shared lunchrooms and access to stairwells and lift.
The entire ground floor retail unit is occupied by Harcourts, with a road frontage of approximately 28m to Robert St and 25m to James St.
The first floor is tenanted by two related tenancies and the remaining three levels are leased by a mix of tenants.
"Due to the good spread of tenants in the building, the risk associated with the loss of a tenant is minimal, compared to other properties with only one or two occupiers," says Binning.
He says that like Auckland, Northland has experienced a significant rise in population over the past five years. Whangārei being the main centre for the region, has increased from 76,995 in 2013 to 84,400 in 2015, and in June 2017 the population had increased further to 86,700.
Peeters says the growing population has brought about a sharp increase in demand from tenants seeking smaller to medium-sized office and retail space.
"And this is a real strength of this particular property," he says.
"Investment returns in Whangārei remain strong with cap rates running at a seven to eight per cent average on strong property.
"This sale represents an excellent opportunity to acquire a high performing Whangārei CBD office asset," says Peeters.
