Vacant Wairau Valley industrial is a rarity

This vacant industrial property is for sale at 18 Poland Rd, Wairau Valley, North Shore.

An owner occupier's pending relocation has opened up a rare opportunity to purchase a medium sized vacant building in the tightly held Wairau industrial precinct on Auckland's North Shore.

Matt Mimmack and Laurie Burt of Bayleys North Shore Commercial are marketing the 2776 sq m industrial building on a sizeable 3811sq m freehold site at 18 Poland Road, opposite a massive Mitre 10 Mega hardware store in the North Shore's Wairau Valley.

The property is for sale by tender, closing December 4 unless it sells beforehand by negotiation.

"We know of only one other standalone industrial property of this size in the Wairau Valley that is available for purchase with vacant possession and this is the superior of the two," says Mimmack. "It comprises well presented warehouse and office space, and one of its major attractions is a very good sized yard area at the rear which is hard to find anywhere on the Shore."

The building has 1665 sq m of medium stud warehousing with three roller doors providing access to and from the sealed yard area. At the front of the building there is production area of 132 sq m plus 437 sq m of office space and amenities on the ground floor with a further 542 sq m of offices and amenities on the first floor above this.

The property has just over 42 metres of frontage to Poland Rd and ample parking at the rear, side and front of the building.

Mimmack says the current occupant, book publisher Random House, has owned and occupied the premises for the past 16 years, but has now merged with Penguin Books and is relocating as a consequence.

"Random House will be moving next year and settlement of the sale will coincide with this," he says. "If the new owner is another owner occupier this will give time for them to plan and organise their relocation to the building. Conversely, if the purchaser is an investor this will provide plenty of time to source a tenant."

Burt says the property is well located in the heart of the Wairau Valley industrial precinct, handy to the motorway, with Poland Rd being a link road between Archers Rd and Hillside Rd. He says a number of former large industrial sites nearby have been converted to bulk retail including the Mitre 10 property which opened in 2005 and the Bunnings Warehouse hardware store in front of it that opened in 2011 along with the nearby giant Pak'nSave supermarket. Other prominent businesses nearby are VTNZ, AA Compliance Centre, Reece Plumbing and Lollipops Child Centre.

"The trend towards bulk retail and other uses in high profile locations in the Wairau Valley has reduced the supply of industrial premises available, and in particular large holdings," says Burt. "This, in combination with increased demand for industrial space from both owner occupiers and tenants on the back of an improving economy, has pushed the vacancy rate for industrial premises in the Wairau Valley close to zero.

"In a number of cases, we have been getting multiple offers from tenants competing for better quality premises. An investor purchasing this property should benefit from this strong demand as well as the flexible Business 9 zoning which permits a wide range of activities. There is also potential for an investor to add further value to the property through such things as security fencing or by leasing the top floor of the front office space to another tenant should the warehouse tenant not want all the office space that is available."

Burt says current low interest rates, which look likely to prevail for some time, also make the property attractive to another owner occupier which could leverage the acquisition at a similar cost to renting.

For more information on this property visit:
TrueCommercial.co.nz