$80 million of sales at Bayleys’ commercial auctions

Two large development sites on Auckland’s northern and southern boundaries which sold to separate purchasers for a total of $21.115 million plus six other $4 million-plus sales were features of Bayleys’ first Total Property auctions for 2022.

The highest price achieved was $13 million for an 8.32ha site at 51 Alnwick Street, Warkworth marketed by Chris Blair and Henry Napier. It comprises 4.99ha zoned Residential – Single House under the Auckland Unitary Plan plus 3.33ha of Light Industry zoned land with a boat building precinct overlay.

The industrial land has frontage to the Mahurangi River and currently houses a long-standing boat building business while the residential zoned land, which adjoins an established residential suburb, sits vacant.

Blair says the offering generated a high level of interest with around 10 parties competing for it. Bidding started at $6,000,000 and over 60 bids later the property was declared on the market at $12,650,000 before selling after five further bids later totalling $350,000. Blair says the property was purchased by the owner of the boat building business which will continue to occupy it.

At the other end of Auckland City, a 2.0252ha land holding consented for an 18-lot residential subdivision at 293 Kitchener Street, Pukekohe marketed by Shane Snjider, Peter Sullivan and Kristina Liu also sold under the hammer for $8.115 million plus GST if any, at $400.7 per sqm.

Bidding on the property, which has a Residential – Single House zoning, started at $2 million with over 40 bids from several parties quickly pushing the price up.

Snjider says the site, which has three road frontages, is located within a new, quality housing area with surrounding infrastructure including schools and an early learning centre.

“Also contributing to the strong interest in this property was the hard work the vendor had put into planning and obtaining consent for its development which means the next owner can start selling the sections straight away.”

The Kitchener Road transaction follows the sale under the hammer in late December by the same agents of a nearby 4.0439ha site in Rowles Road, Pukekohe, also with a Single House residential zoning, for $13.2 million (inclusive of GST). It was among 61.5ha of land suitable for housing development on the outskirts of Pukekohe sold last year by Bayleys at a total value of $107.66 million.

“Pukekohe’s continuing rapid growth means there’s huge demand for new housing within the town and we don’t see that changing any time soon,” says Snjider.

The two large land holdings were among 16 properties in Auckland sold at Total Property auctions for a total of $51.23 million, at a clearance rate of 80 percent, says Bayleys Auckland commercial and industrial director Lloyd Budd.

A 75 percent clearance rate was achieved at Hamilton auctions where nine properties sold for $22.1 million, while four out of five properties sold at a Bayleys Wellington auction last week for $6.7 million.

“It was a very pleasing start to the year for our auction teams, with the high clearance rates reflecting continuing confidence in the commercial and industrial property market from investors and business owner occupiers,” says Budd.

“Purchasers are benefitting from the increase in both the quantity and quality of listings with over 130 offerings encompassing varied methods of sale being a record for a Bayleys first national Total Property portfolio of the year.”

Budd says a notable feature of the market last year was the increased number of higher value properties being auctioned and this has continued with another six properties selling for over $4 million. These included:

-A brand new 1,135sqm industrial building on a 5,954sqm site at 42 John Spencer Way, Rukuhia, adjacent to Hamilton airport, sold for $5.6 million at 4.71% yield on a new six-year lease to civil works company Splice Construction. Marketed by Jordan Metcalfe and Rebecca Bruce, the building comprises a substantial clear span workshop with two levels of high-spec office space.

-A 8.9973ha block of undeveloped land at 5 Wallace Terrace on the outskirts of Te Awamutu, zoned Future Residential with potential for approximately 120 lots, sold for $5.25 million through Alex and Luke ten Hove.

-A 420sqm commercial building on a 1,549sqm site with 20 car parks at 38 Matakana Valley Road, Matakana marketed by Henry Napier and Chris Blair sold for $4.5 million at a 2.47% yield. The single-level building is occupied by four tenants, including Bayleys, all on three-year lease terms with varying expiry dates and rights of renewal. Napier says the Local Centre zoned site has longer term potential for more intensive development encompassing commercial and residential premises.

-An 822sqm underutilised site, zoned Residential - Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings, at 8 Alpers Avenue, Epsom with a 245sqm dwelling built in the 1950s, marketed by James Were, Phil Haydock and Wei Wei Elder, sold for $4.05 million. The property is currently generating $102,960pa from six one-bedroom flats.

-A 1,050sqm Countdown supermarket located on a 2,352sqm corner site at 82 Arawa Street, Matamata was sold for $4.05 million at a 4.97% yield by Josh Smith. Countdown in occupation site since 1995 is on a newly negotiated five-year lease, with three further three-year rights of renewal. The tenant has recently undertaken substantial store and signage upgrades.

Bayleys Waikato commercial manager David Cashmore says demand for Waikato commercial and industrial investment property and residential development land remains strong with multiple bidders on almost every auction.

There was also plenty of bidding activity on vacant offerings including the no-reserve auctioning of two commercial units in Auckland’s CBD. They were the last remaining unsold ground-level commercial units in the Sugar Tree apartment complex bounded by Union, Cook and Nelson streets, comprising three residential towers that will be home to around 2,000 residents.

Bidding on the properties, marketed by Bayleys Auckland City & Fringe agents Dean Budd, and Damien Bullick, started at $10,000 with a 69sqm unit selling for $256,000 and a 100sqm unit for $282,000.

Dean Budd says the units, which require fitting out, attracted over a dozen bidders. “One unit sold to an investor looking for an add value opportunity and the other was bought by an owner occupier who will run their businesses from the premises.”

The most highly bid Auckland property was a vacant 236sqm industrial unit at 630 Great South Rd, Papatoetoe marketed by Elliott Worsley and Karl Price. It was declared on the market at $750,000 after just six bids but then a further 126 bids, including long sequences of $1000 increases, took the final sale price to $987,000.

- Article supplied by Bayleys