Interior view of the fashion retail outlet at 5 High St, Auckland CBD
Interior view of the fashion retail outlet at 5 High St, Auckland CBD
A prime Auckland CBD retail outlet without any vacancy in 14 years of ownership by the vendor, is for sale in High Street with a new tenant signed up to move in immediately when the current lessee moves out at the end of September.
The 173sq m unit is located on the ground floor of a seven storey character building at 5 High Street near the intersection with Shortland Street. It is being marketed by Bayleys Auckland retail specialist Sarah Boles and is among 17 commercial and industrial properties which will go up for sale in Bayleys' latest Total Property auction on August 10, unless sold beforehand by negotiation.
The property is producing net annual rental income of $135,000 from a lease to fashion retailer Fabric which will vacate on September 30 with another fashion retailer Flo & Frankie taking possession of the premises on October 1.
Boles says Flo & Frankie is a successful and fast growing boutique women's fashion, accessories and homeware brand with stores also in Nuffield Street, Newmarket and the Milford Mall..
"The business is family owned and run by Chrissie Conyngham, who has over 20 years' experience in the fashion retail industry, and her three daughters. They stock over 150 of their favourite contemporary local and global fashion and lifestyle brands that bridge the gap between chain stores and exclusive high end brands.
"They have experienced significant year-on-year growth, in their Newmarket store in particular, and have an extremely loyal online following. They also offer a popular personal styling service for their customers.
"They have been looking for a flagship CBD location to expand their business and profile further and the prime position of these premises in the heart of the fashion precinct on lower High Street offered the opportunity they were looking for."
Exterior view of 5 High St, Auckland CBD.
Boles undertook a 'For Lease by Tender' marketing campaign of the property earlier this year, in conjunction with Lloyd Budd, Bayleys' director- commercial, retail and operations, after Fabric indicated it wouldn't be renewing its lease.
"The campaign generated plenty of inquiry and we had three interested parties, underlying the fact that High Street remains a sought after location, particularly among fashion retailers," says Budd. "Flo & Frankie were the successful bidder and the new owner of the property will benefit from a significant increase in rental income when their lease commences."
Flo & Frankie has entered into an initial three-year lease, with three three-year rights of renewal, over Unit G1, the largest of three ground floor retail units at 5 High Street. Boles says footwear retailer Timberland will be relocating from its current CBD location at Britomart into the neighbouring unit around the same time, replacing I.T Fashions. "These two tenancies complement the popular retail precinct of lower High Street which includes Barkers, Murray Crane and 3 Wiseman and a number of other fashion brands," says Boles.
She says the high quality character space offered by 5 High Street, which was built around a century ago. was a major attraction for both Flo & Frankie and Timberland. "It provides very attractive retail space with its hardwood floors, clean white walls and feature support columns constructed out of the same steel that was used to make the Sydney harbour bridge. The building also has a Category B earthquake rating which is good for a building of this age."
Sarah Bowles, of Bayleys
Boles is also currently marketing retail premises at 42C High St for lease encompassing 94sq m of ground floor retail space, a 13sq m mezzanine level plus some storage and one allocated car park. It involves the assignment of a lease which still has four years to run.
Recently refurbished, the tenancy has polished concrete floors, LED lighting, a new alarm system and DGX internet box.
Boles says it is configured for a magazine and book store but it would be possible to adapt it for use as food and beverage tenancy. The area in front of the shop is available for use as a product display area or for outdoor seating if it is a hospitality offering.
"It's in an excellent position near the top of High St and benefits from huge all-day foot traffic from students, office workers and shoppers."
