The 4071sq m Countdown South Dunedin store which is for sale. Photo / Supplied
The 4071sq m Countdown South Dunedin store which is for sale. Photo / Supplied
The land and buildings housing two of the South Island's biggest Countdown supermarkets have been placed on the market and feature in Bayleys' just-released Total Property portfolio magazine.
Countdown Hornby in Christchurch occupies 17,655sq m of land and Countdown South Dunedin a 10,298sq m site. The Christchurch premises was builtin 2010 and the Dunedin building constructed in 2012.
The freehold land and buildings of both supermarkets are owned by NZX listed Investore Property Limited and are leased to Countdown's holding company, General Distributors Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Progressive Enterprises. The Countdown brand has 184 supermarkets nationwide.
Countdown Hornby at 17 Chappie Place generates annual rent of $1,364,605 plus GST; while Countdown South Dunedin at 323 Andersons Bay Rd generates annual rent of $1,225,375 plus GST.
General Distributors has 20-year leases on both properties running through until 2032, with eight further five-year rights of renewals taking the potential end lease out to 2072.
The properties are being marketed for sale by international tender through Sunil Bhana of Bayleys Auckland, Blair Young of Bayleys Canterbury and Robyn Hyndman pf Bayleys Dunedin, with offers being taken until 3pm on Monday February 26.
Sales project manager Mike Houlker said the two properties could be tendered for either individually, or as a combined lot.
"As commercial investment opportunities, Countdown Hornby and Countdown South Dunedin deliver on the standard criteria of having a reputable and well-established tenant in place, sustained by a long lease term, in modern low maintenance buildings," Houlker says.
"With lease extension options running for at least another 54 years, these are some of the longest tenancy agreements structured in New Zealand.
"Progressive Enterprises is very strict on where its large format Countdown stores are located, and how those properties are built and laid out. The highly technical framework for locating and constructing its outlets is based on strategic and well-researched demographic and geo-spacial trends and patterns which are then combined with sophisticated retail consumer habits.
Countdown Hornby Christchurch, has total floor area of 4316sq m. Photo / Supplied
"Consequently, the properties leased, and the consumer businesses contained within those premises, are consistently among the best performing real estate assets and operating entities in New Zealand's grocery sector."
Houlker says Countdown Hornby is situated close to The Hub suburban shopping centre which is encircled by a well-established residential component, while also servicing the further afield lifestyle suburbs of Rolleston and Lincoln.
Big box commercial tenancies in the precinct include The Warehouse, Briscoes, Rebel Sport, Harvey Norman, No1 Shoes, Pet Central, Repco, and Lighting Direct.
"With the city's huge residential shift west after the Christchurch earthquakes, there are virtually no vacancies for large commercial land or tenancies," Houlker says.
"The area in and around Chappie Place is zoned retail bulk park which has been designed and designated to sustain large format retail activities in selected precincts within metropolitan Christchurch," he says.
The layout of Countdown Hornby, with a total floor area of 4316sq m, reflects Progressive's new generation design eight years ago – with the entry lobby adjacent to the trolley park and customers accessing the site through a Lotto store.
It has 295 car parks that are shared with neighbouring retailers including Mitre 10, Harvey Norman and Wendys. Inside, the supermarket is fully air conditioned and is fitted out with an automatic fire sprinkler system with multiple hydrants and hose reels.
Countdown South Dunedin is located, from a cityscape perspective, in a similar location to the Christchurch property. The 4071sq m Dunedin store is in a precinct zoned Industrial One under Dunedin City Council's operative district plan; and Andersons Bay Rd is the arterial route linking the central business district with the city's southern and eastern suburbs.
The property lies within one of the city's 'big box' retail format and showroom destinations about1.5 kilometres from the city centre. Close by are the large Mitre 10 Mega and The Warehouse sites.
Like Countdown Hornby, the layout of Countdown South Dunedin has the entry lobby adjacent to the trolley park and customers accessing the site through a Lotto store.
