Growth to benefit Silverdale Centre

A street-level view of some of the 36 retail outlets within the Silverdale Centre, which is for sale. Photo / Supplied

The recently opened Silverdale Centre, which includes major anchor tenants The Warehouse and Countdown and generates $5.5 million in total net annual rental income, is being marketed for sale by Colliers International.

Located at 61 Silverdale St in Silverdale township, 30km north of central Auckland and 5km south of Orewa, the shopping centre is fully leased to 36 separate retailers on new, long-term leases.

The property is being marketed by Peter Herdson and John Green of Colliers International, with colleague Andrew Reed handling expected overseas interest. The centre is offered for sale by deadline private treaty closing on April 17, unless it sells before then.

Herdson says nearly 60 per cent of the centre's 2.3ha lettable area is leased to Countdown and entities owned by The Warehouse Group, while the huge 7ha freehold land area encompasses expansive car parking.

"This sale offers investors the strong tenant covenants of two of Australasia's largest publicly listed retailers, as well as several other well-known national names occupying other retail outlets in the centre," Herdson says.

"This is likely to be New Zealand's premier retail investment opportunity for 2013. The centre was developed by The Warehouse, opened in October 2012 and is the company's largest, most successful retail development to date."

Herdson says the offering provides an ideal long term, income-generating investment in one of New Zealand's fastest-growing residential catchments.

"The property offers a substantial and growing return, with structured growth reviewed annually in most cases, and long leases to a diverse collection of retailers.

"Paired with exceptional investment security backed by several of New Zealand's most successful retailing organisations, all the makings of a secure, long-term investment are in place here," Herdson says.

The Warehouse Group companies, trading as The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery and Noel Leeming, along with Countdown, occupy 58 per cent of the development's net lettable area.

Many other high-profile retailers occupy the balance of the centre in planned "precincts", including fashion/jewellery, food, health/beauty and homeware/appliances. Other tenants include No 1 Shoes, Supercheap Auto, T&T Childrenswear, Walker & Hall, Amcal, OPSM, KFC, St Pierre's Sushi, Telecom, Guthrie Bowron, Beds R Us, Lighting Plus and two banks: BNZ and ANZ. The shopping centre is laid out in an L-shape, with 980 on-grade and basement car parks accessed from Silverdale St and Central Boulevard.

"The smaller shops complement the two anchor stores, providing a family-focused town centre," says Green. "In developing the centre, The Warehouse has taken great care to achieve the right mix of tenants to serve the community's shopping needs into the future, along with thoughtful landscaping.

"The whole site has been carefully designed by architects Stiffe Hooker, incorporating aspects of the area's natural environment through the use of timber, native plants and the large sedimentary rocks called 'concretions' which are unique to the surrounding landscape."

Green says Silverdale is earmarked as the future commercial heart of the Hibiscus Coast catering to a significant forecast population growth in the former Rodney district.

"The primary catchment population is expected to grow even faster, with projections of 57 per cent growth between 2011 and 2031 when there are expected to be 140,000 people in the [former] Rodney area - a growth rate faster than the adjacent North Shore and the overall Auckland regions."

Herdson says retail spending will also grow with the population. "Annual household expenditure is forecast to grow from $876 million in 2011 to $1.2 billion by 2031, representing 51 per cent growth."

The Millwater housing development, now well underway just to the northeast of the new centre, comprises about 3000 sections that will house over 10,000 residents. Associated local development includes schools, medical centres and recreational facilities.

"The Millwater development, along with the expected population increases in the wider area within the Silverdale Centre's catchment, means the future for retailers here looks sound," says Herdson. "The centre is therefore ideally placed to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding population."

Herdson says recent considerable government expenditure on roading and infrastructure has effectively brought the Hibiscus Coast to within a 30-minute drive of the Auckland CBD.

"The northern motorway is close by, as are the lifestyle and beaches of Orewa and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula."