The vacant commercial property for sale at 106 Karangahape Rd on the corner with Upper Queen St.
The vacant commercial property for sale at 106 Karangahape Rd on the corner with Upper Queen St.
An Auckland character commercial building, strategically located on the corner of Karangahape Road and Upper Queen Street, and historically occupied by a range of retail businesses, is for sale through JLL.
"This freehold 359 square metre corner site sits on the K'Rd ridge at the top of the town, looking down Queen Street to the harbour," says Nick Hargreaves, JLL's New Zealand managing director, who is marketing 106 Karangahape Rd for sale by expressions of interest closing on October 3.
"The property encompasses 522sq m of vacant retail and office space over three levels and has a rateable value of $2,350,000," Hargreaves says.
The building was constructed circa 1930-40s of masonry concrete with decorative tiles, iron roofing and steel window joinery.
"It has been well maintained and is in an area of great commercial potential in K'Rd," Hargreaves says.
"When the City Rail Link opens in 2021, this part of town will be much more accessible thanks to the new Karangahape and Aotea Stations - and the new Karangahape Station will be located just three minutes' walk from this property. Trains will be faster and more frequent. For example, the trip from Kingsland station to Karangahape Station will take just six minutes."
He says Auckland Transport has cited major improvement to the urban area around the Auckland CBD's Britomart Station following its opening in 2003, to demonstrate how investment in transport can lead to intensive redevelopment nearby. "The opening of the Britomart Station brought new life to what was previously an under-utilised older part of the Auckland city centre and has attracted large employers to the precinct like EY [Ernst & Young] and Westpac."
Nick Hargraves of JLL.
"Likewise, the City Rail Link [CRL] will open up the suburbs like Newmarket, Grafton, Mt Eden and Kingsland, bringing a new level of vibrancy to these city fringe locations," Hargreaves says.
"Auckland Council expects city centre and city fringe residents to double to 140,000 by 2041 and forecasts that city centre and city fringe employee numbers will double to more than 200,000 workers.
"Purchasers with an eye to the future are already undertaking a variety of projects in the fringe suburbs which will be positively impacted by the CRL including new builds, refurbishments, office upgrades and planned student accommodation," Hargreaves says.
"K' Road is already well known for its interesting diversity with quirky boutiques, cafes, art galleries and fashion designer outlets and the New Zealand Film Archive has its library and exhibition space located there.
"K Road is also home to the Ironbank building, a visually stunning six-level retail and office development which includes an automated car stacker for 96 vehicles. A development of 65 apartments is planned just around the corner at 8 Upper Queen Street. To be built next year it has been designed by award-winning Melbourne architects.
"For all of these reasons, we expect that city fringe properties will continue to sell quickly over the next five years to savvy investors. And once the CRL is open, the appeal of the city fringe will be obvious to all," Hargreaves says.
"All of this bodes well for the future of K' Rd and for this property that's for sale on the corner of K' Rd and Upper Queen St," Hargreaves says.
