Hands-off provincial investment

An easy care building with Plumbing World as the anchor tenant is on the market for sale in Thames.

The low-maintenance 950 square metre property at 318-320 Pollen Street, reputedly the longest main street in the country's provincial towns, has two tenants returning yearly rent of $57,500 plus GST.

Owned as a passive investment by a private investor, the 660-square metre building is mainly occupied by Plumbing World, which operates its business from a showroom, office, warehouse and yard, alongside ACC-approved Thames Acupuncture.

The land and building are being marketed for sale by auction on December 5 through Bayleys Hamilton salespeople Josh smith and Jason Kong.

Mr Smith said the property ticks all the right ownership boxes, with significant frontage offering good street appeal and exposure for both tenants and a seismic rating of 70 percent of new building standards.

"The multi-tenanted property splits the risk," he said.

Thames Acupuncture has adapted its tenancy into multiple patient rooms as well as an office and staff facilities providing privacy for clients and staff.

Plumbing World, which has been at the site for more than two decades, has split a large open plan showroom and office area at the front from a separate warehouse at the back, maximizing its floor product display with minimal impact from the loading and unloading of products. The warehouse leads to a large 290-square metre secure fenced yard and a service lane giving easy access for inwards and outwards goods.

The company's lease over the premises started in 2005 and was extended last year to 2029. It includes three three-year rights of renewal from February last year. Thames Acupuncture's lease started in 2016 and includes two four-year rights of renewal, with final expiry in 2026. Two-yearly rent reviews are included in both leases.

Neighbouring tenants include plumbers Brokenshire & Ross across the road and Reid Brothers Hardware, which has been in the same family for five generations, a couple of doors down.

The historic-style building housing both Plumbing World and Thames Acupuncture was originally erected in 1968 as a shop and workshop. An extension was built in 1973 at 318 Pollen Street, with the two similar blocks connected in between by timber trusses. It has an internal staircase, lightweight roof, block cavity walls, concrete strip footings and steel frames.

In keeping with the Shortland Heritage Area, the building has a bullnose canopy, fretwork detailing with chamfered posts and a wooden parapet completing the look. The settlement of Shortland was established in 1867 on the eve of the Thames gold rush. Later it was joined with Grahamstown to form Thames.

Many of the buildings in the Pollen Street section of Shortland Heritage Area are notable for their early to mid-20th century architectural styling.

Notable buildings in the area span the period from the late 1860s to the late 20th century, among them Arbury's Buildings, the Chief Post Office and Thames War Memorial and Civic Centre.

Pollen Street was named after Dr Daniel Pollen (1813 - 1896), a provincial and central government politician, who served as Premier of New Zealand for a brief time (1875-1876) As deputy superintendent of Auckland, Dr Pollen, with James Mackay, helped to negotiate the opening of the Thames goldfield.

The Shortland Heritage Area embodies architectural values typical of a colonial settlement, where commercial buildings often evoke a classical aesthetic and restrict their embellishments to the façade.

Pollen Street's commercial buildings achieve a collective architectural significance given their general consistency of height, construction to the front of the lot and provision of a veranda. Although no building exceeds two storeys within the heritage area some of the commercial buildings have large parapets above the first floor, which gives them greater prominence within the streetscape.

While the heritage area is significant to Thames, the town's community board looking to the future allocated $30,000 for Boffa Miskell to draw up concept plans for the revitalisation of the town centre.

Boffa Miskell designed the popular Whitianga town centre upgrade and its concept plans are expected to include a plaza in Mary Street at the intersection with Pollen Street, future use of the War Memorial Civic Centre and the building used by Wintec, which is owned by our council, as well as concepts for Pollen Street landscaping.

The community board will examine the concept plans in the next couple of months for possible inclusion in the council's 2021-31 Long Term Plan.