Aerial view of the big 1.8 ha Alloy Yachts' site for sale in Henderson.
Aerial view of the big 1.8 ha Alloy Yachts' site for sale in Henderson.
Super yacht builder Alloy Yachts is selling its huge industrial premises on a 1.8 hectare freehold site in Henderson directly adjacent to the north western motorway at the Lincoln Rd interchange.
Alloy Yachts has occupied the site for 30 years but wound down the business about two years ago whenglobal demand for super yachts plummeted. The company has already sold much of the plant in a separate series of auctions.
"The premises are arguably the largest of its type in west Auckland," says Bruce Whillans, of Whillans Realty Group who, with Peta Laery and Tim Boyle of CBRE, is marketing the property for sale with vacant possession by tender closing November 26.
Bruce Whillans, of Whillans Realty Group
Whillans says the property comprises more than 11,750 square metres of warehouse and mezzanine storage with 1250 sq m of office space and an extensive yard area. There are nine high-stud warehouse bays ranging from 8.6 to 14.5 metres each with their own gantry cranes and full height factory doors.
In four contiguous titles, the site has dual street frontages and multiple access points, along with three street addresses: 1-3 Selwood Rd, and 6-8 & 10-12 The Concourse, Henderson. There are 107 on-site parking spaces and the property is fully security fenced.
The 5722 sq m Selwood Rd site is the smallest and contains the original warehouse and office used by Alloy Yachts. A 1950s brick and tile house converted into office space is also on the property, located on the corner of Selwood Rd and The Concourse.
At the Concourse address, the site backs onto Henderson Creek and this portion of the property was developed in stages between the late 1990s and 2011. The site contains a large five bay warehouse with stud heights ranging between 10 and 14 metres, mezzanine workshop, a three level office building and an extensive yard area.
Laery says the property delivers a massive net lettable area of about 13,000 sq m of industrial and office space across two large warehouse buildings and a three level office building. "This could go a long way to alleviate the current shortage of heavy industrial space in Auckland," Laery says.
The Alloy Yachts' site is zoned Heavy Industrial under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP) allowing for all heavy industrial activities.
However, Boyle says the zoning isn't limited to these activities.
"Under this zoning the property could be used for a variety of purposes including retail and wholesale storage users, factory and assembly businesses and industries that involve intensive industrial usage," he says..
"The property could also be suitable for a production company, indoor entertainment centre or another boat building business. Longer term the site could also be redeveloped or re-configured to suit a distribution centre. Under the PAUP there is also provision for drive-through facilities, garden centres, and motor vehicle sales."
Laery says that Auckland is facing a critical shortage of industrial space and secondary industrial vacancy rates are now well below five per cent.
"So this site presents investors and owner occupiers with a strategic industrial asset of an enviable scale. For owner occupiers it would also serve as a hedge against future rental escalations. In the last 12 months, secondary industrial rentals have increased nearly seven per cent while the Consumer Price Index has moved just 0.4 per cent over the same period. This means that occupancy costs are rising 17 times the rate of inflation. With little development in the pipeline and the Auckland region facing a shortage of land, most commentators are picking industrial occupancy costs will outstrip inflation."
Boyle says businesses are looking to offset the increased occupancy costs of industrial facilities by maximising the cubic efficiency of a higher stud height and closeness to transport links, both of which are immediately recognisable at the Alloy Yachts' site.
Tim Boyle, of CBRE
"Coupled with a high-capacity power supply, heavy duty floor loading and large secure yard space, this property ticks a lot of the fundamental boxes of a solid industrial property.
"With prime industrial vacancy sitting at a record low of 0.6 per cent with many of the aspects of the main building being attributable to an A-Grade facility, we expect interest in this property to be strong."
Boyle adds that the location will prove a huge bonus for new occupiers wanting ease of transport around Auckland and beyond.
"Industrial properties located on motorway interchanges are finite. There are only a handful of sites in Auckland which offer the same level of direct motorway access.
"From the Alloy Yachts' site, the north-western-motorway headed east towards the CBD or north to Westgate, Hobsonville and Albany can be accessed in less than a minute.
"Once the Waterview Connection is completed in early 2017, the property will have direct motorway access to the airport, Manukau CBD and the inland port at Wiri. The completion of the Auckland Ring Route will also enhance the location of this site within the greater Auckland transport network," Boyle says.
