Pinehill project is a Shore thing

The Pinehill Centre on Greville Rd will be integrated with an existing Palmers Planet store.

New contemporary retail and office complex for fast-growing Albany.

Leasing has now started for the Pinehill Centre, a new North Shore development in Albany that will comprise 22 retail outlets and commercial offices.

Hugh Green Group is developing the complex at 65 Greville Rd to be integrated with an existing Palmers Planet store. Excavations are expected to commence in the third quarter of this year and the completion of the new centre is expected by mid-2015.

"Pinehill is strategically positioned to service the homeward-bound traffic travelling from the motorway through to the East Coast Bays," says Deborah Dowling of Colliers International North Shore, who is handling the leasing of the planned centre with Jessica Martin of the Colliers' national retail team of Colliers International.

"The site can be accessed directly off Greville Rd and offers good on-site car parking designed to make shopping quick and stress-free for customers," Dowling says. "In addition to the growing Albany city precinct, the centre will service the surrounding affluent residential North Shore catchments."

Hugh Green Group was founded in the 1950s by Irish immigrant Hugh Green and was formerly known as Green and McCahill.

"The company has completed many successful retail, office and warehousing developments over the years in the Auckland area and is known for high-quality product, construction expertise and community focus," Dowling says. "As a point of difference, this company retains ownership of most of its developments so it focuses on achieving the correct business mix within its centres to ensure longevity of tenants and of the centres themselves. Pinehill Centre will be no exception."

The new commercial buildings are promoted as featuring a high standard of contemporary design with wide front windows, covered walking areas, outdoor dining spaces and landscaped areas around the perimeter of the buildings. Flexible tenant spaces are offered with options from 60sq m upwards with an overall floor area of about 4000sq m. Martin says tenancies to the northwestern side of the centre will have outstanding views over Albany and across the motorway.

"The site will appeal to businesses such as cafes and restaurants, convenience retail shops, liquor outlets, beauty and medical service providers and some home or lifestyle boutique retailers. We've got strong interest from national brands, mainly food and beverage and service tenants, with offers out on a number of tenancies. There are also excellent opportunities for commercial office users with the centre having flexible floor plates."

Martin says the retail property market is particular buoyant at the moment, reflecting high overall business confidence with demand from tenants looking to move their businesses to the type of prime locations typified by the Pinehill Centre.

"We are expecting this attractive development to draw strong local and national interest and we will be ensuring the centre will be leased to the right mix of tenants to guarantee the success of the development and tenants," Martin says.

The planned shops will benefit from substantial improvements to the motorway in the area. The $19 million Greville Rd Interchange upgrade on Auckland's North Shore is under way, and once completed in mid-2015 it will ease congestion at a significant bottleneck on the motorway. "The transport infrastructure works at the Greville Rd interchange will greatly improve connections to and from local roads and the motorway," Martin says.

Dowling says Hugh Green Group selected the Greville Rd site to fill a gap in the market for high-quality retail space near the motorway. "The development is well-timed. Confidence is high in the North Shore, with record residential prices being achieved and average house prices selling well above capital valuations. A new commercial development such as this will be well received by residents and tenants alike."