All the right boxes ticked for astute investment

The property offers lots of potential for further development. Photo / Supplied

Goodyear & Dunlop Tyres (NZ) Ltd has adopted a strategy to sell and lease back its properties, resulting in the last property owned by the company in New Zealand being offered for sale.

The freehold warehouse and office property with a 12-year lease at 1 Turin Place, East Tamaki, will be sold by auction at midday on Wednesday, September 9 at Colliers' Highbrook office at Level 1, 52 Highbrook Drive.

"Opportunities to own industrial property of this size in East Tamaki with tenants of the quality of Goodyear & Dunlop are very rare," says Colliers' broker Greg Goldfinch, who is marketing the property with colleague Brad Johnston.

"Goodyear & Dunlop will lease the property for an initial term of six years with two three-yearly rights of renewal," says Johnston. "Therefore, this offering will suit any investor looking for a straight-forward, no hassles property with an internationally renowned tenant. Equally, investors with an eye to the future will appreciate the potential that the site holds."

Sitting on an 8272sq m Business 5-zoned site, the 2909.51sq m building includes an 88.53sq m main warehouse and 84.08sq m of canopy space. A small workshop is situated to the eastern end of the warehouse and an open 72sq m mezzanine storage area is provided above it.

A 342.93sq m low stud warehouse is situated to the north of the main warehouse, used as an inwards goods area. The space is clear span and offers a stud height of approximately 3.1m to the knee.

Amenities of 170.49sq m are provided at the northeastern corner of the building and include a locker room, toilets, showers and a lunch room. Access is provided from the building exterior and from the warehouse.

The 117.18sq m office area is located at the north of the property within the frame of the low stud warehouse, overlooking the sealed yard area to the north of the property, which is currently used as a storage area for tyres. A sealed area to the northern part of the site provides a car parking area.

Goldfinch says that the property is located on the southern side of Turin Place, one site east of the intersection with Birmingham Rd.

"It is well located in an established industrial location, with close access to the Southern Motorway via either Highbrook Drive to the north west or East Tamaki Road to the west," he says.

Pointing to the site's Business 5 zoning, Goldfinch says the area continues to grow with infrastructure development providing the scope for further land subdivision and design-build activity.

"East Tamaki has recently seen a substantial amount of new development, particularly in the industrial sector. It has now firmly established itself as a high-quality and well-recognised industrial address and has become one of Auckland's leading industrial suburbs."

As a consequence, there has been a strong shift of focus with occupiers and investors placing greater emphasis on the area in recent years.

"With the Highbrook interchange providing excellent access, both north and south, East Tamaki has the necessary infrastructure. In addition, the surrounding residential suburbs of Botany, Pakuranga and Otara provide a stable workforce as well as other commercial amenities such as banks and shopping."

Goldfinch says that surrounding developments comprise largely small- to medium-sized service and industrial-related users.

"These include commercial premises and low-rise offices with associated retail developments situated along neighbouring Ormiston Road," he says. "In addition, a large manufacturing and distribution facility is under construction for Lion Breweries in the area."

Goodyear & Dunlop Tyres (NZ) is New Zealand's leading tyre importer and distributor. With a history in New Zealand dating back to the early 1900s, the company imports and distributes tyres through more than 130 stores operating in the Beaurepaires, Frank Allen Tyres and Goodyear Auto Service Centre networks, plus 700 independent tyre resellers.

The company's staff of 650 drives an annual turnover of approximately $200 million.

The company operates a fleet of distribution trucks from warehouses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. It provides a 24/7 highway supply and service to the national transport fleet throughout the country.

In addition, the company operates three commercial tyre retreading factories. The biggest is at 1 Turin Place, where thousands of quality retreads are produced annually for companies such as Fonterra, NZ Bus, Ritchies Transport and other large fleet operators.

Occupying the Turin Place site since 1970, Goodyear & Dunlop has just signed a lease that will commence on October 12 providing a total annual rent of $246,362 net plus GST. With two right-of-renewal periods of three years each, the final lease expiry date is set for October 11, 2024.

Rent reviews will be on a three-yearly basis, linked to the market. The next review date is set for October 12, 2012.

Johnston says that the combination of property size, high quality tenant and strong lease length will appeal to a range of investors.

"This will interest all types of investors. Passive investors will be attracted by the length of the lease term to a well-known tenant and the right dollar range will interest many buyers."

He also points out that investors with an eye for future development potential may be interested in the property.

"This is an under-utilised site, with low site coverage of approximately 34 per cent," he says. "A portion of surplus land is also provided to the front of the property. This means that 1 Turin Place will tick all the boxes for an astute investor who can see secure current income plus the future development upside."