By Bob Dey
Lufthansa House on Kitchener St in downtown Auckland has been sold by its Hong Kong owners to two German investors for between $8 million and $9 million, at a yield of just under 9 per cent.
Both sides of the deal have been Auckland investors for some time -
seller William Leung, an eye surgeon in Hong Kong, still owns a Sale St property. One of the German investors is in a company which owns Nestle's office in Newmarket.
Jones Lang LaSalle director Don Harrington, who handled this transaction, says the purchases were at market rents and the buyers could see some growth.
Lufthansa House has been a niche property for its size and appeal to businesses looking for central city quality. Its 16 floors contain only 3339 sq m of lettable space.
Harrington has had a busy month as Jones Lang Wootton, strong in Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and Chicago-based La Salle Partners completed their merger, forming Jones Lang LaSalle and turning the longest-running international property symbol in this part of the world, JLW, into JLL.
He says the merger was complementary in functions as well as geographically, as JLW focused on transactions, asset management and advisory work, while LaSalle's attention has been on corporate and financial services and investment management.
