A $50 million supermarket in New Zealand’s most expensive suburb has been put on the market for sale, just months after opening.
The land and buildings occupied by Countdown in Auckland’s Herne Bay is being sold off by Kurt Gibbons and Ben Cook, who developed the 4000sqm property under their jointly-owned company Manhattan Capital.
Woolworths, which owns the Countdown brand, is locked into a 12-year lease on the store, paying $1.47m a year in rent.
The property is being marketed for sale by Henry Thompson, of Whillans Realty Group, with tenders closing on October 12.
Start your property search
The supermarket is Herne Bay’s first, with Gibbons and Cook spying an opportunity to enter the market when they bought the corner site from development group Mansons TCLM. The property, on Jervois Road and Kelmarna Avenue, had been the home of the Gables pub.
Gibbons told the New Zealand Herald earlier this year that his joint venture with Cook had around $250m of real estate, including other supermarkets and shops.
Gibbons, who also owns the development company Gibbons Co, recently paid $23.5m for a 4201sqm parcel of land in Auckland’s prized double Grammar zone next to the St Marks apartment block and $6.5m for a mansion in central Wellington which he has bulldozed to make way for 11 luxury townhouses.
Developer Kurt Gibbons inside the Metro Herne Bay store before opening. He developed the supermarket build with partner Ben Cook Photo / Michael Craig
Workers put the finishing touches to the building in June. Photo / Michael Craig
The rich-lister and his wife Makere also hit the headlines last year when they bought a waterfront mansion on Herne Bay’s Marine Parade for $23.5m. Cook also owns a grand waterfront home in the suburb.
The upmarket Metro Herne Bay supermarket was developed with 56 basement carparks.
Gibbons told the Herald that it looked different from most other supermarkets, pointing to the store’s polished concrete floors, exposed ceilings and black shelving.
He said that Gib to the site wasn’t an issue during construction, but noted that fit-out workers did 10-hour days to meet the deadline for the opening in June.
The store launched without a liquor licence but last month Woolworths overcame objections to its off-licence and can now sell alcohol.
Agent Thompson said supermarket properties were exceptionally strong investments.
“This has been reinforced by the sector’s solid performance through various Covid-19 lockdowns and now high levels of inflation. Given the size of the landholding, its underlying high-density zoning and position within Herne Bay, this property is truly irreplaceable.”
