Investors can plot route to AA

The Whanganui AA office, at 202 Victoria Ave. Photo / Supplied

The land and buildings housing the regional headquarters of the Whanganui branch of the Automobile Association is for sale.

The property at 202 Victoria Ave property is being marketed by auction on October 26 through Bayleys Palmerston North and features in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine.

Salesperson Karl Cameron says the corner site building is just three years old, and purpose-built for the Automobile Association to its operational specifications. The AA is on a nine-year lease on the property running through until 2023, with two further four-year rights of renewal.

It pays an annual net rental of $64,787, with regular scheduled rent reviews linked to the Consumer Price Index.

"Victoria Ave is the main retail strip shopping precinct in Wanganui. This is a very striking building and sits on a superb corner location for the AA premises and offers easy access for the clientele utilising the tenant's various services. "It ticks all the boxes, having a first class tenant on a long lease term , in a 100 per cent seismically rated building ," Cameron says.

The property comes with car parking for five vehicles, with additional parking on both Victoria Avenue and Ingestre Street immediately outside the AA premises.

The first, and last time the property came up for sale - in 2014 - it was purchased by a Christchurch commercial investor, who bought it while he was competing in a charity golf tournament.

The bidding spanned three holes of the tournament - which the buyer went on to win. He had a good day.

The AA provides such services as road-side breakdown assistance, insurance, finance, a fuel card loyalty programme, travel packages, accommodation and tourism guides, and is an advocate for automobile users nationwide. It is governed by a national council supported by 17 district councils. Whanganui is a regional branch.