Manly site has many possibilities

The 1970s property at 60 Rawhiti Rd is roughly indicated by a red border. Photo / Supplied

A convenience retail building on an underutilised site in the heart of Manly Village on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula is for sale offering a variety of future add-value opportunities.

The 170sq m single-level building, developed in the 1970s and fully leased to three retail tenants, occupies only around one quarter of the 661sq m of land that it occupies at 60 Rawhiti Rd in the centre of Manly's main commercial precinct.

It is home to the Manly Village Bakery, which has been in occupation for over a decade, a florist and Frankies Gelato & Deli whose products include award-winning gelato, sorbet and ice cream, coffee, salads, artisan cheeses and gourmet meats. The tenancies are generating total net annual rent of $69,560 plus GST.

Featured in Bayleys' Total Property portfolio, the property is for sale by tender closing 4pm on December 6, unless sold earlier. Adam Curtis and Damian Stephen, Bayleys North Shore Commercial and Mustan Bagasra of Bayleys' Orewa office are the marketing agents.

Curtis says the high profile main road position close to a busy roundabout in the centre of Manly and its Neighbourhood Centre zoning under the Auckland Unitary Plan mean it has significant development upside.

"The very low site coverage and dual access both from Rawhiti Rd and Leal Place, at the rear, provides a real opportunity to add a whole lot of value to this land holding. The owner has already taken significant steps in this direction by developing detailed plans and concept drawings for a redevelopment of the full site. These have been submitted to Auckland Council for resource consent approval and the vendor has already put a lot of preparatory work into meeting council requirements."

The proposed redevelopment comprises:

• a four-storey building with a maximum height of between 13m to 14.56m;
• eleven residential apartments over the three upper levels;
• three retail units on the lower level street frontage ranging from 42sq m to 107sq m;
• 11 basement car parks; and
• unit titling of each of the residential and retail units, providing potential to sell off individually.

Stephen says the new owner could choose to continue with these plans, with most of the initial hard work done, or investigate other options for the site.

"The existing three leases have demolition clauses, allowing a purchaser to activate these to redevelop the entire site or they could look to add value by building on the existing well-established and diverse tenancies and renegotiating these leases. They could then add further shops to the site to enhance its critical retail mass and perhaps build apartments at the rear away from the busy street frontage. There are a number of options that could be considered."

The Business — Neighbourhood Centre Zone applies to single corner stores or small shopping strips located in residential neighbourhoods that provide residents and passers-by with frequent retail and commercial service needs. Residential use on upper floors is permitted and encouraged by Auckland Council, says Stephen.

"Development is expected to be in keeping with the surrounding residential environment and requires council assessment in order to ensure that it's designed to a high standard that enhances the quality of streets within the area and public open spaces."

He says the contour of the site rising from the Rawhiti Rd frontage towards the rear boundary means future residential development would benefit from views out to the Hauraki Gulf with eastern-facing apartments having an urban outlook towards the Auckland CBD.