Owner-occupier could leave mark on big Wiri site

Brokers say a new owner could get the site to work more efficiently. Photo / Supplied

Having been tenanted by international food ingredients companies for 40 years, a 1ha property in Wiri is now being marketed for sale by CB Richard Ellis brokers Claus Brewer, Derek Harries and Dominic Ong who will auction the property on June 22.

Owned by Hon Hing Construction for the past 15 years, the site, at 284 Wiri Station Rd, is occupied by a food ingredients factory and warehouse and will be vacant by the beginning of July.

Brewer says the site offers the flexibility to redevelop or occupy. Hon Hing Construction had initially looked at re-leasing the site, but decided to sell it to release capital. "It is a chance for an owner-occupier who doesn't need a high stud building, to occupy the 3580sq m of older style medium warehouse and office space or to develop new purpose-built premises.

"There are fewer and fewer Wiri industrial sites available for owner-occupiers to buy and then build their own premises. The majority of the available industrial zoned land is tightly held by developers or investors who are only leasing buildings they put up.

"This site has a lot of possibilities for a wide range of businesses. It doesn't have full site coverage and the existing building is not well positioned on the land. There are endless permutations that could be looked at to make this site work efficiently and cost-effectively."

Harries says the building is a substantial factory warehouse and office complex built about 1967 and altered at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s to suit the expansion of the tenant's food ingredients business. In 1984 a drying tower was installed and there were further alterations a year later.

"The property is tenantable as it is in reasonable condition." The offices over a single level are on the Wiri Station Rd frontage, while a three bay warehouse used for distribution and storage and incorporating a blending room and four roller doors is to the southern side of the offices. The warehouse has a 3.6m stud, rising to 4m at the apex. On-site parking is provided for 36 vehicles with visitor parking at the front of the offices and staff parking in an adjacent separate sealed yard.

Located at the corner of Ash and Wiri Station Rds, the dual access, elevated property is opposite Ports of Auckland Inland Port and sits on a key arterial route with good links to the new SH20 motorway extension. While there is no price on the property, Brewer says bare land in the area has been selling for between $220 per sq m and $260 per sq m. Average land prices for quality sites in Mt Wellington and Penrose sit at above $300 per sq m.

"There is no doubt Wiri's lower industrial land prices have played a big part in some major businesses moving to the area. We are getting continual inquiry about Wiri land as the prices provide owner occupiers and developers with an economic opportunity compared to Mt Wellington, Penrose and East Tamaki."

Whilst Wiri Station Rd will lose some of its profile because of the SH20 motorway extension, Harries says it will be a good feeder route. It will change the perception of Wiri as a challenging destination. The extension will give easier access to the Southern Motorway and CBD."

CBRE's research shows industrial land values increased slightly in the first quarter of this year after large falls from March 2008 to September last year. Expectations in the property sector of an increasing number of landowners quitting, or forced to quit, their vacant sites have not been realised. CBRE's figures show the bottom of the cycle in land values may have passed. Interest is focused on development sites which have holding income over the short term.

Yields for prime industrial land have firmed to 8.43 per cent over the first quarter of this year. CBRE's research shows yields started to strengthen in the September quarter last year.

Harries says this strengthening of the market reflects the fact industrial investors are the most optimistic of the entire commercial and industrial property sector and have picked up quickly on changes in the underlying economic and monetary conditions and low prices.