NZ Post puts stamp on value of Ellerslie property

New Zealand Post Ltd occupies two units in the Ellerslie town centre.

After 20 years under the same ownership, a retail property in Ellerslie town centre currently occupied by New Zealand Post will go under the hammer later this month.

"Retail property in Ellerslie town centre is very tightly held," says Murray Tomlinson commercial broker with Barfoot & Thompson Commercial who is marketing 95-97 Main Highway for sale by auction at 10.30 am on Wednesday June 24 at the agency's Shortland St auction rooms - unless it sells earlier by negotiation.

"The property for sale is in fact two separate freehold strata title units, combined to form one contiguous retail banking chamber," Tomlinson says. "Each unit includes five car parks as accessory units. Two separate units will be a real bonus for the future owner allowing for individual tenanting or possibly the individual sale of the titles.

"The tenant, New Zealand Post Limited, is second to none. After six years in occupation and at the first renewal of term negotiation this May 2015, they requested a further three year right of renewal to the lease.."

NZ Post currently pays rent of $85,587 per annum net plus GST on a lease of six years with three three-year rights of renewal commencing May 2009 with a potential final expiry date of April 30, 2024 if all rights of renewal are exercised. All outgoings are paid by the tenant.

Murray Tomlinson of Barfoot and Thompson.

The two units are comprised in a strata retail and commercial development on a total flat site of some 3728 square metres. Each strata unit is 85 sq m giving a combined a total approximate area of 170 sq m.

The front portion of the site sits on Main Highway and is directly opposite Ladies Mile Rd. The rear portion has a street frontage of close to 100 metres onto Findlay St - part of the one-way system which provides access and parking to the rear of the town centre. On the opposite side of Findlay St is the State Highway One southern motorway

The units at 95 and 97 Main Highway are two of 15 units that make up the Ellerslie town centre development which built in 1986/87 and consists of 13 ground level retail premises.

Four front directly onto the footpath on Main Highway while nine are internal from the street within a small mall. The remaining two units are first floor office premises.

"Incorporated in the whole development is a considerable amount of ground and first floor car-parking," Tomlinson says. All car parks are designated as accessory units and are accessed from Findlay St at the rear."

He says NZ Post completely stripped out the two units it leases at the commencement of the first lease term at its own cost. "This included the inter-unit wall, all the existing shop front glazing and existing air-conditioning and refitting to what is now there. The cost was considerable and indicates the commitment of the tenant to the location.

The property is zoned Business 2 under the Auckland Council Operative Plan and Business Town Centre under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.

The property is about nine kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD and one kilometre from Ellerslie Racecourse. Nearby over the SH1 motorway is the Southern Corridor commercial district and the Penrose industrial zone.

Convenient motorway access from the CBD is via the Tecoma St off-ramp while the Ellerslie-Panmure interchange is around 700 metres from Ellerslie town centre to the south. "Ellerslie township also has good access to the main arterials of Great South Rd and the Ellerslie Panmure Highway along with the suburb of Remuera to the immediate north," Tomlinson says.

"A pedestrian walking bridge over the motorway is 60 metres along the street and provides quick access to the railway system via Ellerslie Station."