The property housing New Zealand’s largest Bunnings Warehouse is on the market for sale.
The 16,000sqm branch of the DIY retailer, which sits on a 21,200sqm site in Auckland’s Westgate shopping park, is being sold by Kiwi rich-lister Ben Cook.
The Bunnings site was one of several commercial properties that Cook bought in 2020.
The New Zealand Herald reported at the time that the commercial properties had a collective value of more than $100 million, of which Bunnings’ market value was reported to be $70m.
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The Bunnings at 21-33 Fred Taylor Drive is listed with Colliers agents Blair Peterken, Josh Coburn and Shoneet Chand.
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The agents highlight in their marketing that the property was leased to Bunnings in December 2020 for 12 years and earns $2.869m plus GST per year in rental income.
The Herald reported in July that Cook was moving to Australia and was planning to sell off his New Zealand property assets.
His commercial portfolio at the time included Countdown supermarkets, and two other Bunnings, one in New Lynn and another in Hamilton.
Cook made headlines in 2021 when he bought a yet-to-be finished Bunnings in Hervey Bay, Queensland, for A$58.6m, at a record yield of 4%.
He also owns one of the most expensive homes in New Zealand, a waterfront mansion in Herne Bay, which he bought in 2015 for $24m.
Ben Cook is selling off his property portfolio. Photo / Supplied
Cook’s Countdown in Herne Bay, which he built with fellow rich-lister property developer Kurt Gibbons, is still on the market for sale, with Colliers’ Peterken the listing agent.
In Australia, Bunnings stores are highly sought-after investments, with big box hardware stores now as desirable as supermarkets, with long leases and good sales growth. Many of these deals occur off-market.
Analysts say this is because there are more buyers demanding Bunnings assets, but few are available for sale. One property investment company, Charter Hall, has 66 of the stores in its portfolio, with an estimated value of A$3.7 billion, and paid A$65.3m for the biggest warehouse in New South Wales in February last year.
Peterken could not comment on his client’s plans for his other Bunnings property but noted that the Westgate store was the largest in the country and considered the jewel in the crown.
“It’s in an area with huge growth, and big developments bringing on thousands of houses. Costco has chosen this area to move into,” he said, noting that interest was from both local and international buyers.
He could not comment on the likely price it might fetch, saying there has not been a Bunnings on the market for at least 12 months.
“They don’t come up that often. It’s a bit of mixture of on-market and off-market when they are traded, we’ve sold ones in Queenstown, Hamilton south and up north, and they’re not necessarily advertised on the market.”
Peterken said buyers were likely to be a mix of private groups from Asia and Australia, as well as locals, the majority in syndicates, but there were institutional buyers too.
“The great advantage is fixed annual growth in the lease, so that’s a key driving factor [for investors].”
In August this year, Cook put eight other retail properties on the market, all brought to auction by Tim Turner of NAI Harcourts.
Of those, The Warehouse Alexandra, in Central Otago, and Fresh Choice Edgeware, in St Albans, Christchurch, premises were both sold under the hammer for $4.5m and $4.61m respectively, Turner confirmed to OneRoof.
Turner said the stylish premises for the Engine Room restaurant on Queen Street, Northcote, sold immediately after auction, but could not disclose the price
Still under negotiation are two Countdowns – one in Papakowhai, Porirua, and the other in Fielding – while the BP service station on Jervois Road, in Herne Bay, and two blocks of retail premises in Takapuna are still looking for buyers.
“These [big box] assets are very defensive-type assets because when we went through the pandemic, they were one of the few who paid the rent. People like them because the money comes in,” he said, adding that active buyers were generally higher net worth individuals rather than syndicates which have dropped out of the market as the interest rates have gone up.
“An auction tells buyers you are serious, it’s very transparent when people have a fear of over-paying and you get better engagement,” Turner said.
Cook Properties’ list of big box retailers on their website include three Bunnings in Hamilton, New Lynn and Queensland’s Hervey Bay as well as Countdown in Howick, Mangere East, Orewa and Rototuna and Kmart in Hamilton’s Te Rapa.
