The new Placemakers and Mico Plumbing Trade Centre at 66 Crown Rd, Taupo.
A new trade centre housing Placemakers and Mico Plumbing stores on a large Taupo industrial property is due to go under the hammer next Wednesday in Auckland.
The 7401 sq m site at 66 Crown Rd, Taupo will be sold by auction at 11 am on March 25 at Colliers International's 151 Queen Street offices unless it sells earlier by negotiation.
Andrew Hooper of Colliers International who, with colleagues Mark Brunton and Alan Pracy, is marketing the property, says it represents a secure, long-term lease for investors with one of New Zealand's most recognisable trade retail brands.
"This freehold property will generate net annual rental income of $305 000 and comes with a new, long term lease to Placemakers because the building has literally only just been completed.
"Any maintenance costs will therefore be insignificant for new owners in the medium to long term due to building warranties," says Hooper.
The two businesses will be trading in their new premises, developed by Wallace Development Company Limited, by the end of this month.
The nine year lease includes three rights of renewal of six years each as well as rent reviews three-yearly to the lesser of either Consumer Price Index (CPI) or market rates.
Hooper says this combination of a proven, committed tenant and an occupancy potentially spanning the next three decades offers investors exceptional security.
"For Auckland investors it presents an arbitrage opportunity to take advantage of the price difference between the Auckland and Taupo markets. Effectively investors from Auckland have the potential to get more bang for their buck investing in the current Taupo industrial property market, as opposed to the record prices being demanded in some areas of Auckland like East Tamaki and Penrose.
"The fact this property houses a well-established, national brand tenant in a quality building only under adds to this appeal," says Hooper.
The Placemakers and Mico Plumbing Trade Centre has a net lettable area of 2580 sq m including a 1207 sq m warehouse, a 1050 sq m trade hall, 323 sq m of office space and a 3440 sq m yard area.
Brunton says this development is predominantly trade specific but it also forms an essential part of Placemakers and Mico Plumbing's growing retail network in New Zealand.
PlaceMakers is New Zealand's leading and largest supplier of building materials and hardware. It is the trading name of Fletcher Distribution Limited, the retail trading arm of Fletcher Building Limited in New Zealand and employs more than 2,100 people.
Placemakers has 58 stores from Kaitaia to Invercargill, selling over 74,000 product lines from concrete to paint, and plasterboard and manufacturing frames and trusses from 12 plants nationwide.
Mico Plumbing is New Zealand's leading supplier of plumbing and bathroom products and solutions. It also supplies pipes and fittings for use in major building and civil contracts, infrastructure and agriculture projects
Mico Plumbing was purchased by Fletcher Buildings, the owners of Placemakers, four years ago.
"Over and above the length of the lease, this is a quality, adaptable building," says Brunton.
"This makes it suited to a wide range of occupiers which future proofs the property's potential."
The steel portal frame and concrete tilt slab structure has a complete colour steel roof system. Translucent panels provide an abundance of natural light to the warehouse and trade hall areas, and ceilings are fitted in all office and amenities spaces such as the lunch room.
A timber/steel mezzanine floor structure provides convenient storage with a particleboard flooring substrate.
Five large roller doors allow access from the warehouse to the yard, and there is also internal roof access and duckboards on the roof.
Fire alarm and smoke detection systems have all been installed.
Pracy says the trade centre sits on a premier, slightly raised, site in a recently developed, 13-lot subdivision where only three lots remain available for purchase.
"The building holds a commanding profile on Crown Road - Taupo's major arterial road."
"This links the CBD to the new industrial and commercial occupiers in Miro and Manuka Streets, as well as further out to the latest developments like Mega Mitre 10 at the intersection of State Highway Five and the eastern arterial."
The property has a wide frontage and access to both Crown Rd and Mahoe St.
"Mahoe St, Miro St, Matai St and Manuka St comprise the heart of this Taupo industrial area which is about four kilometres from Taupo's CBD," says Pracy.