Big is best for leisure group

One of the North Shore's biggest warehouse buildings has been leased to a single occupier in one of the biggest industrial leases transacted in recent times.

Home & Leisure Group has taken a 10-year lease on the 10,457sq m former ING Life building, owned by publicly listed property company ING Property Trust, at 221 Albany Highway in the North Harbour Industrial Estate.

Home & Leisure Group chief executive John Bishop says the size of the building was the major attraction for the company, enabling it to consolidate three warehouse operations in Albany, New Lynn and Christchurch into one complex.

It will be the national distribution centre for the privately owned New Zealand company, which imports and sells outdoor and indoor furniture as well as home, gardening and leisure products to many of the country's biggest retailers.

The company, formerly known as Altrend International, also operates in Australia. It has already moved into part of the building and will take over the rest in March next year once existing leases have expired and a major renovation and refurbishment of office space has been completed.

The building has 9150sq m of warehouse space with a 7.5m stud. The balance comprising offices and amenities.

The lease, which will produce initial net rental income of around $1 million per annum, was negotiated by Nick Howe-Smith and Daryl Devereux of Bayleys North Shore.

Originally constructed for Hasbro NZ in the mid 1980s, the property is widely recognised as one of the best large-scale industrial complexes on the Shore, says Howe-Smith.

"It's a superb distribution warehouse on a prime corner site with plenty of flexibility for future expansion."

The property, with frontage on to Rothwell Ave, has 2.87ha of land with just over a third covered by the existing building.

Bishop says the property will enable the company to continue to grow its operations in the future. The substantial amount of land is also ideal for accommodating the large volume of containers that the company handles.

Howe-Smith and Devereux also have Home & Leisure's existing Rothwell Ave premises - a 4288sq m warehouse and office building in Albany - available for lease as a result of the company's relocation.