Bell portfolio is investors' cup of tea

The Bell Tea property at 15 Hope Street, Dunedin, sold for $335,000.

A portfolio of four Bell Tea industrial properties, which included three in Auckland and one in Dunedin, has sold for a total value of $18.65 million.

The properties were sold to different purchasers and the largest sale of $10.8 million was achieved for Bell Tea & Coffee Company's main production plant and head office in East Tamaki, Auckland.

Bayleys Real Estate's Paul Dixon, who managed the sale, says the three East Tamaki properties, which have new 12-year leases, generated a lot of inquiry and multiple tenders.

"These are exceptionally long lease terms for industrial premises which, coupled with their strong location in one of New Zealand's most sought after industrial precincts, meant they generated a significant amount of interest," says Dixon.

The individual sales were:

• 43 Crooks Road, East Tamaki, which was purpose-built in 2008 as a state-of-the-art production facility. The 5463sq m premises on a 1.3745ha corner site sold for $10.8 million at a 5.8 per cent yield. The complex was designed by architects Wingate + Farqhuar, with glass-walled tea and coffee tasting rooms as its centrepiece with high-quality head office accommodation and high stud warehousing of 12-13m. Approximately 4000sq m of bare land allows for future development opportunities.

• 305 East Tamaki Road, East Tamaki, a 4175sq m industrial facility on a 6052sq m site. It sold for $5 million at a 7.2 per cent yield. This was formerly Bell's main Auckland production plant which was significantly renovated in 2008 and is used as a production, storage and distribution facility by Bell Tea. The building was originally constructed in the 1960s with subsequent additions and refurbishments in 1976 and 2007.

• 317 East Tamaki Road, East Tamaki - a 1750sq m industrial building on a 3035sq m site it sold for $2.52 million at a 6.7 per cent yield. Originally acquired to facilitate possible expansion of the neighbouring Bell Tea plant it is now leased to Eagle Wire Products.

• 15 Hope Street, Dunedin: a 2623sq m processing and warehouse facility, built in the early 1920s and extended in the 50s and 80s. It sold with vacant possession for $335,000. The building requires seismic strengthening.