Freehold corner site in Ponsonby with Italian flair

The building houses a popular Italian restaurant and Ray White real estate.

A high-profile freehold corner site, known for its popular Italian restaurant and dominated by real estate agencies for decades in the Three Lamps end of Ponsonby Rd, is for sale by auction.

Comprising front and rear buildings at 259-263 Ponsonby Rd, the property will go under the hammer as a single offering at 11am on Tuesday, April 1, at Colliers International's auction room Level 27, 151 Queen St.

Damerell Earwaker Group, trading as Ray White Real Estate, occupies 259-261 Ponsonby Rd, while next door at 263 is the Italian restaurant Nero trading as Gusto Italiano.

"The property zoned Business 2 under the Auckland City Council District Plan has a long-standing history with real estate agencies occupying the site for decades, including the current agency which has been there for 19 years," says Colliers investment sales broker Jonathon Lynch, who is marketing the property with colleague Andrew Hiskens.

"It is prominently situated on Ponsonby Rd on the corner of Russell St, about half a kilometre from Jervois Rd, and is leased to well-known tenants on net leases," Lynch says. "The property is in arguably one of Auckland's most popular commercial and social precincts among a number of popular cafes and restaurants."

Together the buildings comprise about 450sq m of net lettable area on a 340sq m site.

Ray White occupies 259-261 Ponsonby Rd on a three-year lease at an annual net rental of $171,500 per annum, plus GST, beginning December, 2013.

Three rights of renewal of three years each take the lease to a final expiry of December 2025.

The building is a two-level weatherboard structure with ground floor reception and offices and an internal staircase leading to additional offices and staff kitchen on the upper level.

Lynch says the property benefits from a very wide retail frontage of nearly 9m at a strategic point on Ponsonby Rd in an area with heavy foot and road traffic.

"It is an ideal site for a real estate agency, which is why the current tenant has been there for nearly two decades and other real estate agencies previously occupied the same site."

Behind the agency is a two-level building currently serving as an office and boardroom. Historically used as horse stables and later a bakery, the building is accessed via Russell St.

It has an open-floor plan on the ground level accented by a feature brick surround historic oven that was part of the old bakery. Two internal staircases give access to refurbished character office area on the upper level subdivided into open offices with a feature timber ceiling and exposed character trusses.

"None of the buildings at the location are registered as historic, however the rear building has quite a pleasant character feel on account of the brick and timber features," Lynch says.

Next door is Gusto Italiano. "The restaurant has been here for seven years, following on from another Italian restaurant which previously occupied the tenancy."

The property is generating $77,500 yearly, plus GST, on a four-year lease that began in May 2011. Two two-year rights of renewal take the final expiry date to May 2019.