Kmart for Bethlehem Town Centre

Bethlehem Town Centre manager, Andrew Wadsworth,

Discount giant Kmart has been secured as the new anchor tenant in the $15 million redevelopment of Bethlehem Town Centre.

Centre manager Andrew Wadsworth, of Colliers International, has ended months of speculation by confirming the identity of the new tenant to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.

Mr Wadsworth said the team had been negotiating with Kmart for two years, and cited the arrival of the major retailer as another example of the significant growth the western Tauranga suburb was experiencing.

"This is a fantastic addition to the centre and the local community," said Mr Wadsworth. "A great deal of time and resource has gone into the planning of this project."

The redevelopment will add 2000sq m, bringing the centre's total footprint to more than 20,000sq m. The Kmart building will take up 5000sqm, created by redeveloping empty space and extending into the carpark area adjoining the building housing furniture retailer Smith City.

"We are talking to all interested stakeholders, including Smith City," said Mr Wadsworth. "Our role is to ensure it's business as usual during the redevelopment for the rest of the centre."

Ben Smith, Kmart's Australia-based general manager of property, said he was pleased to bring Kmart to Bethlehem's residents and the greater Tauranga community.

"We're looking forward to developing our presence in Bethlehem," said Mr Smith. "At present our closest store is located in Mount Maunganui. There are currently 18 Kmart stores in New Zealand, and we're continually looking for new sites.

"The new Kmart store will provide Kmart's full range in our newly-formatted and designed store, and further enhance the centre as a convenient shopping destination west of Tauranga's CBD."

The new store will have 70-80 new staff made up of a combination of fulltime, part-time and casual positions.

Mr Wadsworth said Bethlehem had transformed from a semi-rural, horticultural area to a modern and much sought-after suburb, with the centre evolving remarkably since the original anchor tenant Countdown opened in December 2003. The remainder of the centre opened in 2007.

"The introduction of Kmart will significantly increase the retail offering for customers," he said.

Colliers manages the centre for the 50-50 owners, PSIB Waiheke Inc, controlled by a Canadian pension fund - which acquired the stake when it bought AMP's property interests last year - and local family company FH Thompson & Sons.

The owners will provide the base building. The $15 million centre redevelopment total does not include Kmart's costs in doing its own fit-out of the space.

"The investment in the redevelopment by the centre's owners represents a significant measure of confidence in the centre and the region," said Mr Wadsworth.

For the past year, retail activity at the centre had been growing at 3 per cent to 4 per cent each month.

"And we have numerous conversations in the pipeline with various other retailers about coming to the centre," he said.

Concept plans and consents were being finalised, with a head contractor to be appointed over the coming weeks, he said.

The redevelopment was expected to have between 30-50 tradespeople on site each day, increasing to 80 at peak times. Construction was due to begin next month, with Kmart due to open early next year.