KEY POINTS:
Three East Tamaki industrial properties that were the headquarters of a large but now restructured packaging business are for sale or lease.
Chequer Group's two companies, Chequer Packaging and Astron Plastics, were sold to a consortium of the ANZ bank and private investors three years ago.
Both companies employed 400 people across New Zealand and Australia and were heading towards $100 million in revenues.
Astron Plastics, the majority of the company's business, is still successfully operating in East Tamaki, Christchurch, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The Christchurch plant of Chequer Packaging is still operating and has recently been bought by Hellabys.
But the recent closure of Chequer Group's Chequer Packaging company that operated from premises on adjoining sites at Ross Reid Place and Zelanian Drive, East Tamaki, has been heart wrenching for founders Paul Halford and Rod Sullivan, who started the business from scratch in 1980.
Halford says it's been difficult watching the plant and equipment being sold and the property's three bustling buildings - containing film extrusion plant, printing presses and converting plants that employed 120 people - grind to a halt and become eerily silent.
The properties at 26 and 27 Ross Reid Place and 44 Zelanian Drive are being sold or leased by private treaty closing on October 18 through Colliers International industrial director Charles Cooper and broker Greg Goldfinch.
The vacant properties and development land, which cover 2.5ha across three titles, can be bought individually or as one parcel. At the 1.4ha 27 Ross Reid Place address is the property's main building containing 447sq m ground floor offices, 296sq m first floor offices, 2809sq m of warehousing, 259sq m of mezzanine storage, a 1302sq m detached warehouse and about 3900sq m of development land.
The warehouse and offices over two levels were built in 1993. Both office floors have a generous 3m stud and are well detailed and finished, says Goldfinch.
The factory/warehouse has a 6m stud and good natural light to the interior.
Access is through two roller doors, and the interior, with the exception of five posts supporting the portal trusses, is clear span.
On the 5562sq m site at 44 Zelanian Drive is a 178sq m administration office, 160sq m factory office, 2020sq m factory/warehouse, 44sq m low stud factory workshop and 45sq m dangerous goods store.
The two-bay industrial building, centrally located on the site, was the original 1980s-built factory.
The building has a dated but still attractive facade and the older of the two factories contains the executive offices, says Goldfinch.
The 26 Ross Reid Place address comprises 7218sq m of vacant development land.
Cooper says the properties, at the end of two culs-de-sac, sit in a premium industrial precinct with a number of well-known companies nearby, including Robinson Industries, Goode Industrial and Fisher & Paykel Appliances.
Halford and Sullivan bought the bare land in the late 1980s when the area was predominantly rural and the manufacturing business was in its infancy.
They had started out in rented premises and wanted to own their own real estate.
Halford said the business would have expanded over time to cover the entire site if they had kept it.
The original building was erected using timber laminated beams.
"It was cheaper than using steel girders and we carried on the theme through to the extension," says Halford.
When the original bay went up, the property was landscaped with native plants and coffee bean spoil was used as mulch.
When Halford and Sullivan arrived for work on the first day the premises were surrounded by cows attracted by the smell.
Chequer Packaging flourished at the site - it was the company that converted supermarkets from paper to plastic bags.
When the Labour Government introduced GST and stopped the sales tax regime, plastic bags became competitive and took off, said Halford. Before that, supermarket shopping bags with a handle attracted 20 per cent sales tax and those without a handle no tax.
The company moved out of the supermarket bag business when it became more competitive for clients to source product from Asia. As niche manufacturers and marketers, Chequer Packaging moved into stand-up reclosable pouches for a variety of products and clients.
Chequer Packaging resisted moving its manufacturing off-shore, but it became more obvious some products needed to be sourced from Asian countries in particular because of price demands from customers.
Halford said he and Sullivan considered buying back the now-defunct business.
"We had to remember why we sold in the first place and decided against it," Halford says.
"There is a degree of expertise required and we had to work hard.
"It's also difficult to manufacture in New Zealand because of the recently high dollar and cost of labour."
Cooper says the property has a robust power supply that will be suitable for a manufacturing operation that is a high consumer of electricity.
The premises are designed for manufacturing food grade products.
The offices are of corporate standard and, combined with the factory and warehouse operations, would be ideal for owner occupiers in either distribution or manufacturing. Under the Manukau City Council's Operative District Plan, the properties are zoned Business Six, allowing for a restricted range of permitted activities, such as offices, warehousing, storage and auction rooms.
There is no maximum height provision within the zone. Goldfinch says the best use of the land is for industrial activity.
