An elevated exterior view of 65 Hugo Johnston Drive, Penrose.
An elevated exterior view of 65 Hugo Johnston Drive, Penrose.
A trio of industrial buildings on three contiguous sites in Penrose, which has been described in a Government report as "the engine room New Zealand's industrial and manufacturing economy," will soon be available for lease.
"This upcoming vacancy in a tightly-held industrial location presents an extremely rare opportunity for businesses like logistics, freight and manufacturing companies," says Andrew Hooper of Colliers International who, with colleague Greg Goldfinch, is marketing the space to lease.
"The portfolio of buildings occupies a significant 2.9 hectare landholding in one of New Zealand's most sought-after industrial precincts," Hooper says. "Industrial vacancy rates in the area are at record lows, and we anticipate there will be significant interest from potential tenants."
He says three buildings, at 65 Hugo Johnston Dr, 80-84 Hugo Johnston Dr and 10 Autumn Place, are available from early 2017 and can be leased collectively or individually.
"The current tenant, Sistema Plastics, is relocating to a newly-built premise in Airport Oaks on the corner of Oruarangi Road and Ihumatao Road to cater for its massive expansion.
"Sistema is a great example of a New Zealand business success story. It has grown from a company developing a product line out of a garage 30 years ago to a successful operation exporting to 82 countries, with a team of staff that spans the world."
The 9097sq m property at 65 Hugo Johnston Drive encompasses a 6639sq m office and warehouse complex - with the warehouse having an area of 5048sq m, the office area being 1145sq m and a control room/storage area of 146sq m. The property also has yard area of 1331sq m and a canopy area of 149sq m.
The industrial complex at 80-84 Hugo Johnston Dr, Penrose.
Hooper says the complex is impressive with CBD-quality office space and modern high-stud warehousing with a minimum stud height of 7.5 metres and maximum of 8.5 metres. "It also has drive-through capabilities, which would be well suited to distribution, office and warehousing businesses,"
The 10,142sq m property at 80-84 Hugo Johnston Drive (which also incorporates the addresses 4&6 Autumn Place) houses a warehouse of 5110sq m, an office area of 1053sq m and storage area of 132sq m totalling 6295sq m. In addition the complex has a yard area of 1716sq m and canopy area of 383sq m.
The 9879sq m property at 10 Autumn Place features an office area of 566sq m and warehouse of 4970sq m totalling a building area of 5536sq m. The site includes 2052sq m of yard area and 201sq m of canopy area.
"This property offers extremely efficient storage with heavy floor loading capacity, a nine metre stud height rising to 11 metres at the apex and a fire alarm and sprinkler system,"Goldfinch says.
"The large canopy located off the main warehouse also allows for excellent covered loading and unloading capabilities.
Andrew Hooper, Colliers International
Goldfinch says internal access is provided through all three buildings along with full drive-around capability from entrances off both Hugo Johnston Drive and Autumn Place.
He says the property is zoned Business 6 which permits extremely flexible land use options including heavier industrial activities.
"A key drawcard for tenants will be the location of the property. Penrose has superb accessibility to State Highway 1, the CBD, the Airport via SH20, and it's also close to large labour pools un Onehunga, Mt Wellington, Ellerslie and Greenlane.
"Quality neighbouring tenants with large scale operations include Sharp, World Vision Carter Holt Harvey and BJ Ball. Service-orientated companies can realise efficiency gains from being positioned close to their customers in business parks and industrial areas like Penrose."
Goldfinch says transport links from Hugo Johnston Drive are set to dramatically improve following the announcement of plans for the new East-West Link between State Highway 1 and State Highway 20 that will connect directly with the southern end Hugo Johnston Drive.
"This connection will make an incredible difference to transport logistics and efficiency for businesses in this immediate vicinity and construction is due to get underway in 2018."
The frontage of the building at 10 Autumn Place in Penrose.
He says the Onehunga-Penrose area employs over 130,000 people and generates $10 billion a year in gross domestic product.
"Overall, the industrial property sector is in fine form. Colliers' latest Research and Forecast Report shows almost half of all commercial property sales turnover in 2015 were industrial which translates to $2.8 billion of transactions.
"While high volumes of industrial property transactions are a common occurrence in New Zealand, there has definitely been a surge in confidence from investors, thanks to rising rents, low vacancy and firming yields."
Greg Goldfinch, Colliers International
Goldfinch says Auckland's industrial space vacancy has remained at a record low of 2.2 per cent.
"The prime vacancy rate edged up to 1.7 per cent while secondary vacancy reduced to 2.4 per cent over the past year.
"This development due to Sistema relocating represents a particularly good opportunity given these vacancy rates - and this is a high quality leasing portfolio in a premier industrial area."
Hooper says the buildings were acquired from Sistema in July 2015 by Property For Industry (PFI), New Zealand's only listed property vehicle which focuses on the industrial sector.
"PFI first listed in 1994 and, more than 20 years on, the company has over 5000 shareholders and a portfolio of around 85 properties valued at almost $1 billion."
