Argosy leases to Studio Italia

Studio Italia offers a range of exclusive Italian furnishing brands.

NZX listed property company Argosy has leased 1090sq m of high stud and mezzanine showroom space at 25 Nugent St in central Auckland to Studio Italia Limited which specialises in the sale of Italian furniture, wardrobes and kitchens.

The long-term lease was negotiated by Ben Wallace of Bayleys Auckland with Studio Italia also having the right to renew for an extended period, meaning this high-profile site is likely to be the home of Studio Italia for quite some time.

Studio Italia has recently taken over the street-front ground floor area of the building, which was previously occupied by LaHood window furnishings and more recently Republic furniture, and also has signage rights over the 3028sq m building.

Studio Italia vacated its former space, a 757sq m high-stud showroom premises in Newmarket, to move into the Nugent St property.

"The space served Studio Italia very well for a good number of years. However, it had become too small for their expanding business," says Wallace.

"They wanted a larger premises with similar strong street-front exposure to their current showroom and the Argosy building offered that with its high stud glazed street frontage on to Nugent Street. We were also able to secure 15 car parks outside the showroom and in the building's basement."

Studio Italia has the exclusive New Zealand marketing rights for a variety of leading Italian designer brands including Poliform, Varenna, Flexform and Kettal. It also has a showroom in Queenstown. It was established as a furniture retailer by Kevin Stephenson in 2000 and was originally called Poliform.

Valeria Carbonaro-Laws, born and educated in Italy, became a shareholder in 2004.

Argosy property manager Tony Frost says the company has undertaken a significant amount of work on 25 Nugent Street before Studio Italia's lease began.

"These works are in excess of $1 million and comprised a full refurbishment of the showroom space, including polishing the concrete floors and installing a feature stairway connecting the showroom floor and mezzanine floor. In addition, we have undertaken a comprehensive upgrade of the exterior of the building and grounds."

The two-level building comprises a mixture of office, showroom and warehouse space and also has basement car parking. The balance of the space is occupied by Schindler Lifts.

Wallace says the Nugent St precinct in Grafton has undergone a significant rejuvenation in recent years with substantial redevelopment work resulting in an influx of new office, showroom and retail tenancies. He says Studio Italia was also attracted to the location by a number of complementary retail businesses which had established themselves there.

The nearby 8 Nugent St mixed-use development being undertaken by Neil Holdings is expected to have 1200 people working and living onsite when completed. A five-level office building is fully tenanted with a Body Tech gymnasium on the ground floor. Also completed is Nugent Apartments, encompassing 56 apartments which have nearly all sold, with retail services such as a cafe and barber on the ground floor.

Wallace says Nugent Street's central location provides excellent connections to motorways as well as public transport options.

Two train stations servicing West and South Auckland and more than 50 bus routes servicing all of Auckland including Auckland Airport are within walking distance.

It is also a short drive from the Grafton Road interchange, providing easy access to the Southern, Northern and Northwestern Motorways.