Automated Ngatea Gull station

The land and building infrastructure housing a fully automated Gull petrol station is for sale in the Waikato town of Ngatea, on State Highway 2 between Auckland and Tauranga.

Bayleys Hamilton is selling the unmanned station, but not the business operation.

Salesperson Josh Smith says the 1624sq m freehold site is ideally situated at 44 Orchard West Rd, the section of SH2 acting as Ngatea's Main Street.

"This is part of the very busy route linking Auckland and Tauranga," he points out.

"It has a solid tenant, as Gull NZ Ltd (owned by Caltex Australia) has been a 'disrupter' among established NZ fuel brands since bursting onto the scene with its low-cost fuels in 1998.

"Caltex Australia claims to be Australia's largest transport fuel supplier, with 1900 sites."

Smith adds that Gull had the Ngatea facility purpose-built in 2011 and it has now risen to be one of the Waikato's busiest self-service fuel stations.

The Ngatea property will be auctioned at 11am on August 16. It features in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine.

The rectangular-shaped property is being sold with an extensive list of chattels, including:

• one 60,000 litre fuel storage tank and one 50,000 litre fuel storage tank;
• three pumps;
• four filling stations; and
• vapour recovery lines.

Gull New Zealand Ltd's 10-year lease on the site expires in 2021, having four additional five-year rights of renewal. Gull's fuel retailing hardware occupies about 96sq m of the site, which is zoned Commercial 8A.

The lease generates annual rent of $57,783 net.

Smith says it's a very hands-off investment, underpinned by a modern fuel storage and delivery systems both above ground and underground. Gull manages the site's operational expenses such as the fuel dispensers, signage, phone lines for card payments and point of sales systems.

"The service station canopy in Orchard West Rd is built of conventional steel framing on two columns. It is clearly visible from the main road because of its height prominence," he says.

Smith sees potential to add-value through finding an economic use for under-utilised land to the rear and side of the fuel retailing activities. However, this would be subject to any lease negotiations with Gull as head tenant.

"To the rear — now partly fenced-off from the fuel station forecourt and accessed via a school service lane — is a large area of unused land which could be developed to increase potential income," says Smith.

"Interested parties have suggested installation of a self-storage garages as a future use of this portion of the property. But future activity must be compatible with the core business of fuel retailing."