"Historic under-supply, caps on new development and increasing demand from a growing CBD apartment population have resulted in car parks becoming a highly compelling investment."
Seavill says the car parks for sale are on a five-year lease to Wilson Parking New Zealand Limited, which operates both casual and monthly parking from the facility.
He says they are currently under-rented, earning a combined $41,006 in net annual rent.
A 2 per cent fixed rent increase is due in October 2019, with final lease expiry due in September 2020.
His colleague Gareth Fraser says there are multiple options for investors and owner-occupiers.
"There is potential to renegotiate the leases with Wilsons or ride out the current lease term, enabling purchasers to then occupy or manage the parks themselves. At lease expiry there is an opportunity to achieve a market rental."
Fraser says the proliferation of nearby apartment buildings, many with limited car parking spaces, has led to a massive rise in owner-occupancy. Offices are also driving demand. Many companies have limited parking in their own buildings, making it necessary to locate staff parking elsewhere.
Fraser says these demand pressures have been exacerbated by the rarity of standalone parking buildings in Auckland's CBD.
"Construction of these buildings almost completely stopped in the 1990s, despite rapid growth in the number of employees and residents. Since then, the Unitary Plan has capped the overall number of new CBD parking spaces and effectively halted the development of new standalone parking buildings. "Constrained supply and increasing demand have led to significant price inflation, with daily casual parking rates increasing by 164 per cent since 2008."
The Farmers Car Park is about 250m from Queen St.
"This part of Auckland's CBD has undergone substantial growth in the recent years, with Wynyard Quarter, the Viaduct Harbour and the Victoria Quarter all attracting significant development."
Hobson St itself is a major arterial route through Auckland's CBD with excellent transport links.
The Hobson Street motorway interchange is only 800m from the facility with good accessibility to the rest of Auckland. It comprises a six and eight-level buildings — dating from the 1950s and 1960s respectively — and linked by a series of ramps. The facility was subdivided in 1995, with its 1343 parking spaces put on separate titles. The car parks for sale include 21 covered and four rooftop spaces.
