Flexibility is the word for award-winning CBD-fringe building

The building at 17-19 Nixon St can be adapted easily to other uses. Photo / Supplied

Cemac Commercial Interiors has diversified, expanded and moved some of its operations elsewhere, resulting in the company putting its award-winning fringe CBD office, showroom and warehouse building in Grey Lynn up for sale or lease.

Mike Adams, of Bayleys Auckland, said Cemac bought the former warehouse for its own use in 2000 and converted it into modern offices and a showroom space in a major makeover while retaining warehousing at the rear.

Cemac has recently moved its showroom to larger premises in Parnell and has moved its warehousing to Glen Innes.

Adams is marketing the property at 17-19 Nixon St with colleagues Marianne Murray-Brown and Scott Kirk. The 700sq m building is on a 562sq m site with two road accesses from Nixon St and Monmouth St.

The renovations were designed by architects Kay and Keys and won the NZ Institute of Architects' award for commercial buildings in 2001.

Cemac director Derek Finnigan said he and business partner Owen Noonan went for a modern, industrial look in the interior design and loved working from the building because of its central location and large, voluminous spaces.

"We didn't go for what was fashionable at the time so the interior hasn't dated. We needed something that was up to a professional standard because of the nature of our business, which deals with architects and designers as well as their clients," Finnigan says.

They built an internal stairway and bridge to link the office space to the main showroom, and also retained an internal link to the warehouse.

Finnigan said the property suited them well until the business outgrew it. "It is a very flexible building which could easily be adapted to someone else's use."

The ground-floor offices comprise 375sq m of open-plan office space, meeting rooms and amenities. The mezzanine floor, which was Cemac's showroom, is 131sq m and at the rear, with its own separate entrance off Monmouth St, is 193sq m of high-stud warehousing. The secure basement has parking for 12 cars, with automatic roller-door access and two visitor parking spaces at the front door.

Adams says the building has a high stud in the warehouse and some of the interior spaces, giving an air of spaciousness. The offices and the showroom are carpeted and air conditioned, and the property has been refurbished to a high standard.

He says there are few similar spaces in the immediate vicinity for lease and "certainly not a premium building like this".

The building is located centrally, just minutes from busy Ponsonby Rd and a short distance from Great North Rd. It offers easy access to the CBD and the motorway system and a regular bus service runs along Great North Rd about 100m from the property.

"With a mixed-use zoning allowing for residential, business, educational and leisure activities, it is conceivable the property could be partly converted into residential apartments or a mix of residential and commercial uses," Adams says.

"Grey Lynn has always been a popular location for businesses and housing, so a large building in this location has good future potential."