An artist's impression of the building under construction at 829 Great South Rd.
A high quality office-warehouse, under construction on the site of the former Hellaby Freezing Works, in Mt Wellington, is being closely watched.
The building - available for lease from November - is in an area where vacancies are at record lows, while rental rates are on the rise.
The 4400sq m building, on an 8772sq m site at 829 Great South Rd, Mt Wellington, is being marketed for lease by Colliers International's industrial sales and leasing associate director, Hamish West, as well as Matt Barnes from CBRE.
"Earthworks have commenced in preparation for the construction of this architecturally-designed building, which sits on the largest contiguous development site in the central industrial heartland of Mt Wellington," West says.
"Major national brand Ideal Electrical recently moved into the adjacent building on a 12-year lease, and we are looking for strong tenants ready to commit to this building for a lease of over eight years.
"With vacancy rates at an all-time low, tenants in the Mt Wellington area are now experiencing modest rent increases, which make the move to a modern facility like this a logical next step as the efficiencies gained in stud height and preferable access more than account for the small difference in annual rent."
Designed by Eclipse Architecture, the building has warehouse space of 4400sq m and office space of 550sq m and will be constructed of steel portal and concrete slab, West says.
"Any tenant in an older building with a lease renewal inside 12 months should give serious consideration to a facility such as this as increasing rent payments render older properties even more inefficient."
The property is likely to appeal to businesses with warehouse or showroom trade distribution operations, West says.
"Benefits include a high 10m stud warehouse, LED lighting, a large yard and drive-around access providing good truck circulation. The building is also a sustainable development with a 100 per cent-plus Initial Evaluation Procedure (IEP) rating of New Building Standard (NBS)."
The property forms part of a 27,290sq m site purchased by Southpark Corporation 20 years ago, he says. "The Southpark Group is one of Auckland's largest industrial landowners and has been responsible for the redevelopment of sites such as the former Affco, Shortland works, Taniwha works, Pikes Point, Roscommon quarries, and Takapuna Tower.
"The company currently has $80 million of property under construction across Auckland and Christchurch, with significant brand tenants such as Fliway, Fastway Couriers, Sharp, and Ideal Electrical.
"This offers potential lessees with the opportunity to move into other properties also managed by Southpark in case of expansion or a change in needs."
Another drawcard is the high profile location on a main arterial road, West says. "These buildings are visible to over 25,000 passing cars daily offering the potential for huge brand exposure."
Southpark's general manager of development, Scott Campbell, says the property will be the central building on the site, with another office/warehouse - floor area 3900sq m - to be built alongside it. Southpark is taking any expressions of interest or pre-commitment for this building also. "There are also more future opportunities, given Southpark owns a further 3.5h hectares of adjoining development land."
Mt Wellington has undergone a lot of redevelopment in recent years, Campbell says. "As Auckland's original industrial area, most properties in Penrose, Onehunga and Mt Wellington contained older, low-stud facilities originally constructed in the 1960s and 1970s for manufacturing.
"With vacant land being almost totally unavailable, much regeneration is underway, with older buildings being demolished and modern, efficient facilities being constructed in their place - and we are seeing a rejuvenation in the area as a whole as a result."
A key benefit to Mt Wellington as a business location is its centrality, Campbell says. "Mt Wellington is considered one of Auckland's best industrial areas because it is only about 12 minutes normal driving from Auckland's CBD."
The property is just 1.6km from the Mt Wellington motorway interchange, 2.5km from Sylvia Park, 14.6km from Auckland's port and 13.1km from Auckland Airport, Campbell says.
"As the motorway network becomes more and more congested, and businesses are seeing more and more financial benefits to being centrally located."
The Mt Wellington area is also tipped to improve further following the Government's recent announcement of its intention to streamline the consent process for the $1.85 billion East-West Connection roading project, which will provide a seamless link between the South-Western Motorway (SH20) and the Southern Motorway (SH1), where Southpark has a further 8-10ha of development land, Barnes says.
"Subject to approval, it's the Government's intention to fund the East-West Connection through the Land Transport Fund so construction can start as early as 2018.
"This project aims to address congestion and improve travel times and reliability of journeys between business in the industrial areas of Onehunga-Penrose and Mt Wellington and the two motorways."