The Tourism House commercial premises, 60-84 Dickens St, was built in 1956. Photo / Supplied
Land and buildings which once housed Napier's central city bus depot, and which are now home to various small retail and commercial operations, have been placed on the market.
The three-story Tourism House building at 60-84 Dickens St, used to be the departure and terminating point for the city's bus networks.
During the late 1950s and early '60s these were run by the Hawke's Bay Motor Company.
A high-stud covered pedestrian area running off Dickens St under the middle of the property was once the driveway access point to the bus depot at the rear of the site. Napier City Council planners chose the location for its position in the centre of the city's bustling retail precinct, and just a short walk to the beachfront along Marine Parade.
The Tourism House commercial premises was built in 1956, with a further floor added in 1963; a substantial reconfiguration undertaken in 1982; and a full interior fitout completed in 2006.
Today, eight retail tenants on short-term leases occupy 992sq m of street-facing space within the property.
Business activities on the ground floor range from a superette, locksmith and photocopying premises, through to a cafe, internet-access store and chocolate shop.
The entire 578sq m of commercial office space on the first floor is vacant. Meanwhile, on the upper third-floor level, there are three tenancies.
Combined, the tenancies generate gross annual income of $186,420 net.
The 2220sq m building sitting on 1784sq m of freehold land is being jointly marketed for sale by deadline treaty through Bayleys Napier and Bayleys Auckland, with offers closing at 4pm on August 2. The property features in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine.
Bayleys salespeople Sam MacDonald and Paul Dixon say any new owner of the premises would most likely completely remodel the building into a more efficient use of the available floor plate.
"There has already been feedback from one developer that the property could be totally reformatted — with the creation of a multi-venue hospitality hub at street level, with either residential apartments or a boutique apartment-style hotel on the upper levels," MacDonald says.
"The 'laneway' style design of the ground floor area comprises a walk-through atrium leading off Dickens St onto a European-styled al-fresco cobblestone courtyard space with raised gardens which is accessible from Station St. That area is owned by the Napier City Council, which very much has a pro-business approach to seeing economic activity thriving in the CBD.
"These design features could form the 'spine' of a new food and beverage-themed precinct in the heart of the city.
"Meanwhile, the upper floor plates are in an open-plan format and both have high stud heights — amply suitable for conversion into either apartments or an all-suite hotel, which would automatically piggy-back off the hospitality hub below. The upper level floor space also has several balconies facing onto Dickens Street, and these would again point toward the creation of decked outdoor areas for accommodation."
Concept plans for redevelopment of the property into either a boutique studio suite hotel or apartment complex have already been drafted up. MacDonald says these would be made available to potential purchasers to either take on board or use as a template for alternative development configurations.
The rear of the property contains a 322sq m parking space for 12 vehicles, reached off a shared right-of-way accessible from Hastings St.
Dixon says that, although the building was not considered earthquake prone, it would benefit from structural re-engineering — undertaken simultaneously with reformatting the tenancy and occupancy lay-outs on all levels.
"There is substantial holding income being generated by the multitude of short term tenancies on the site, and two vacant street-level tenancies on Dickens St, which could be let to short-term 'pop-up' styled retail outlets," he says.
"Subject to tenant negotiations, this revenue stream should continue while the necessary building designs are drafted up and resource consents applied for."
Latest economic data from the Government's Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment for the 12 months to May 2018 show that combined domestic and international spending from tourism in Hawke's Bay grew by five per cent to $638 million.
"Enshrined within tourism spend is of course the accommodation, and hospitality sectors — both of which could be cornerstone elements of any new redevelopment at the Dickens Street property," Dixon says.