New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart is selling up some prized real estate. Photo / Getty Images
The Business Herald’s new column offers insight into what those on the inside of the property industry are talking about, what worries them, what they’re celebrating, the rises, the falls and who’s doing what.
Reclusive billionaire Graeme Hart is bailing from two south Auckland sites, calling in agents to market three hectares of land valued at around $40 million where his Fernbrook Properties planned vast warehouses.
Fernbrook owns a 1.18ha site at 11 Greenmount Dr, and 2.2ha at 68 Cryers Rd, both in East Tāmaki.
Hart got consultants to get Auckland Council consent for the warehouses: 7200sq m at the Greenmount Dr site, according to Collier’s Greg “Goldie” Goldfinch, working with Edward Washer and Paul Higgins, and 1.2ha of warehouse at Cryers, according to CBRE’s Bruce Catley, Claus Brewer, Lewis Watson and Alex Divers.
Tenders have to be in by November 8 for Greenmount and November 14 for Cryers, unless sold prior, so no mucking around.
It seems Hart’s relatively newly-launched Fernbrook already has its work cut out on other big industrial south Auckland deals in around $200m of new warehouse/logistics buildings.
In 2021, the Herald reported on Hart’s businesses buying industrial properties in five deals worth $189m. Those were:
Now Hart is seeking to exit that “Greenmount gem” and won’t go ahead and build after all, nor at Cryers. Alistair White, managing director and founder of Auckland planning and resource management consultancy Planning Focus, has been involved in many of these transactions.
“Goldie” says the vacancy rates for prime industrial floorspace in East Tāmaki are only 0.1 per cent and this site is near Wiri, the airport, rail and motorways.
Why is Hart selling? Property Insider understands there’s been a change in plans. Fernbrook continues to show considerable confidence in the investment fundamentals of the city’s industrial market and is forging ahead elsewhere, so this appears unusual, with plans and progress on other sites all go.
It’s been years coming but regulation of property managers was on the way - at least, until the election interfered. Without the Nats’ support, this could be resoundingly dumped.
Parliament’s Social Services and Community Committee said on October 12, submissions closed on the Residential Property Managers Bill.
That would pull this sector into line with real estate agents, although private landlords won’t be caught in the new law. Should we be worried about managers? Was anything going wrong?
So much is at stake: Barfoot & Thompson alone manages more than 18,000 residential properties. More than 480,000 New Zealand residences are rented and although not all are by professional managers, billions of dollars flow through property managers’ accounts annually.
One of the biggest cases in this sector was that of Harcourts’ ex-franchisee and ex-rental star, Gurpreet Grewal, also known as Preet Grewal, once a high-flyer at the national agency.
His Preet & Co Real Estate had franchised offices in Howick, Ellerslie, Botany, Manurewa, Ōtāhuhu, Pakuranga, Manukau and Papatoetoe as well as Preet & Co Rentals. But in 2018 he was ordered by the High Court to repay $1m after funds were found to be missing from the trust account of Preet & Co Real Estate - and the rentals business.
So who would be captured by the new law, if it’s passed? Thousands of managers are contracted by landlords to look after tenancies, including running relationships with tenants and ensuring compliance with legal obligations.
The proposed law is an omnibus one to establish minimum entry criteria for applicants to qualify as residential property managers and to hold organisation licences. It would establish a professional conduct code to ensure those managers meet certain professional standards of practice. It would also set up an independent complaint and disciplinary process to resolve problems. The established Real Estate Authority in Wellington could also carry out functions as the regulator of any new regime.
So could the Nats dump it?
National housing spokesman Chris Bishop told Property Insider pre-election last week: “We supported it at first reading. Interested to read the submissions. Sceptical about whether the costs outweigh the benefits, as the officials noted as well. Check out the regulatory impact statement.”
Clear? Not really. Wait and see.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is moving and now so too is Fisher & Paykel Appliances, after both being based for decades at East Tāmaki. The NZX-listed healthcare is off to Karaka in a $275m deal but Appliances, which is owned by Haier, is headed more towards the city and near a train station for around 1000 staff, moving to Penrose.
Construction of the $220 Fisher & Paykel Appliances’ three-building hub at 830 Great South Rd is due to begin in January, adding a huge boost to the construction sector, which is getting everyone buzzing lately.
That’s huge news for the building sector, with many people desperate for work and calling major building businesses asking what building, plumbing, electrical, painting, plaster, tiling, foundation, steel, formwork, scaffolding and other work is up for grabs.
“I’d get up to 10 calls a day and 20 emails,” said one large-firm construction chief of subbies calling, seeking employment on major building contracts either under way now or starting soon.
That’s a gutting statement and gives a coalface view of how tough life is for many businesses.
The new Fisher & Paykel Appliances hub is to be only a few doors down the road from the headquarters of another property business - Fletcher Building. Neighbours, nearly.
So who’s involved?
Mark Elmore is vice-president of design and brand at Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which has also opened its huge new experience hub at 199 Great North Rd in the heart of Grey Lynn. Reviews of that are glowing. Think dark moody kitchens with state-of-the-art appliances. Imagine it in your home... that’s the idea.
Bruno Goedeke is Naylor Love Construction’s regional manager for Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
Richard Naish of RTA Studio is the lead architect and Andrew McDonald from TSA Management is the consultant project manager.
Come January, the construction sector will be well into the dry earthwork season. It’s around then that Naylor Love is planning to start work on the site, partly empty with few buildings.
Engaging with Sir Bob Jones is always interesting. Writing about Robt. Jones Holdings buying a $70m Shortland St tower this month drew this response from him: “We have received your letter saying you can’t find anyone to ‘talk about’ a building in Shortland Street.
“Pop into an old people’s home. Find a lonely old lady or bloke and tell them you’d like to talk about it. They’ll be happy to accommodate you and go on for hours about anything at all you wish to talk about, whether the spinal system of the zebra, space invaders or any topic at all.”
The octogenarian did say one more thing, but oops, Property Insider suddenly ran out of room.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
'Some people can’t remember anyone in their family owning a home.'