Sky high potential in city fringe area

By Colin Taylor, article courtesy of NZ Herald

An office and warehouse building with basement level parking and a good street frontage is for sale in the premium Auckland city fringe area of Eden Terrace.

"The two-level building occupies a freehold site with the potential for development using a significant portion of land at the rear," says Cam Paterson of Barfoot & Thompson Commercial who, with colleague Murray Tomlinson, is marketing the property at 6-10 Nikau St for sale by tender closing on February 11 – unless it sells earlier by negotiation.

Paterson says the construction of the office and warehouse with a lettable area of 893 sq m on a 903 sq m site is typical of the 1980s development period for fringe city service warehouse orientated properties.

"It was built around 1982-83 when developers produced straight-forward office and warehouse structures to cater for the evolving fringe city businesses, requiring a little more office and showroom space. They have remained particularly popular over the 1990s and 2000s as they still have a contemporary look and are generic but easy to modify if required."

Popular city fringe location with secure income

Paterson says Eden Terrace is a popular fringe city location, providing excellent access to all parts of the central city. 

"It has a continually evolving local infrastructure and environment in a sector of the city that is again receiving considerable interest from residential users," Paterson says. 

"The proposed city rail development, with a local station planned to the south on Nikau Street, further makes this a premium market offering to start off the new year."

Paterson says the needs of the vendor, who is also the owner occupier of the property, have recently changed.

"Essentially the building with 14 basement car parks is being offered vacant possession, but it will be sold offering a short term tenancy from the vendor on terms that may be discussed to suit a particular buyer’s requirements."

The initial lease being offered by Acme Supplies Limited as tenant is for six months from settlement with no renewals at a net annual rental of $150,000 per annum net plus GST and outgoings 100 per cent paid by the tenant.

"This will effectively provide the purchaser with a secure income for the first six months," Paterson says.

Cam Paterson, Barfoot & Thompson Commercial
Cam Paterson, Barfoot & Thompson Commercial
Murray Tomlinson
Murray Tomlinson, Barfoot & Thompson Commercial

Mixed Use warehouse, square 30 by 30 metre site

Tomlinson says the warehouse is accessed from the street level via two roller doors. “The warehouse height at the knee from the original plans is 4.9 metres rising another 1.7 metres to the portal apex. Inside the warehouse to the northern end encompasses a substantial mezzanine level used for storage with toilets and kitchen beneath at one side. The office and showroom portion, at the other end of the warehouse looks to comprise about 25 to 30 per cent of the total ground level floor.

"From the street at the southern end is a driveway accessing the car park and section of the warehouse which is below street level. The stud height here looks to be three to 3.5 metres."

Tomlinson says the warehouse does have a gravelled yard at the rear but there is no legal vehicle access to this yard.

"This lower level floor appears to be around 75 per cent retained and backfilled solid floor and 25 per cent suspended Stahlton system with a considerable cavity underneath.

"The front façade looks to be a fibrolite type board cladding system all with aluminium joinery."

The site is essentially square at about 30 by 30 metres with the Nikau Street frontage essentially flat and dropping down several metres north to south at the rear of the site.

Tomlinson says the property is zoned Mixed Use under the Auckland City District Plan with a height limit set at 15 metres with a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of two-to-one and maximum FAR of four-to-one.

Permitted activities include offices, care centres, educational facilities, warehousing, cafes, retail premises and residential units.

"However, under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan, while again designated for Mixed Use, it has the added development bonus of increasing the height potential to 20.5 metres  or five stories," Tomlinson says.

"The last 15 years has seen a development trend towards increased residential apartment and terrace houses as developers have realised the high demand for residential accommodation in this inner fringe city location."

Eden Terrace location, central to the CBD with good motorway access

The property is on the eastern side of Nikau St about 60 metres from Mt Eden Road to the north and 50 metres south to a crossroads with Flower St which directly accesses New North Road another 50 metres further on.

"The location would actually be termed northern Eden Terrace, bordering Newton and Grafton," says Tomlinson. "It’s very central to the CBD to the north and eastern and western fringe suburbs. It also has good motorway access via on and off ramps at Newton and Khyber Pass."

About Barfoot & Thompson Commercial

Barfoot & Thompson Commercial offer expertise in industrial and retail sales and leasing, property management and portfolio management.