Retail unit on Queen Street with long lease to Glassons

A retail unit in a character building on Auckland’s Queen Street is for sale with a long-term lease to Glassons.

The stratum in freehold unit at 186 Queen Street is located on Auckland’s premier shopping strip.

It occupies the street level of the historic Whitcombe and Tombs Building, which is commandingly positioned on the corner of popular pedestrian thoroughfare Durham Street East.

Glassons occupies the 528sq m unit on an eight-year lease returning $788,000 plus GST in net annual rent. Rental growth is locked in at 2.5 per cent per annum, providing very attractive investment security.

Colliers International has been exclusively appointed to market the property for sale by deadline private treaty closing at 4pm on Wednesday 20 November, unless it is sold earlier.

Investment Sales Broker David Burley says it is being presented to the market as a fully leased CBD investment opportunity.

“This is a chance to acquire a trophy retail investment in an absolutely superb location,” says Burley.

“Queen Street is the epicentre of Auckland’s retail, hospitality and commercial activity, and renowned for its many prestigious national and international tenants.

“Properties here are very tightly held and premium retail assets seldom transact, particularly on the open market, making this a particularly rare proposition.

“Long-term tenant Glassons is one of New Zealand’s most popular and well-loved retail brands and continues to trade strongly.

“All of these factors make the sale of the Glassons store at 186 Queen Street a hugely appealing opportunity for investors.”

Glassons is part of NZX-listed Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Ltd and continues to be one of the country’s strongest-performing retail groups.

The company’s latest interim results reported group sales of $151.24 million in the six months to February 2019, an increase of 3.1 per cent on the same period the previous year, with net profit after tax up 5.9 per cent at $16.04 million.

Broker Adam White of Colliers International says the unit for sale represents a sought-after ground floor retail tenancy in the heart of Auckland’s CBD.

“The attractive space has a generous stud height, an extensive glass storefront with two frontages and a beautiful heritage façade.

“The Whitcombe and Tombs Building was designed in 1925 by Chilwell and Trevithick with a heavy façade divided into three bays, including a central curved pediment and a cantilevered cornice.

“It forms part of what is now known as Little High Street, which also incorporates The Met and Soho Lofts.

“The complex comprises the buildings at 186-202 Queen Street, which were significantly redeveloped and subdivided with unit titles during the late 1990s.”

The building was originally the home of Whitcombe and Tombs, which was founded in Christchurch in 1882 by bookseller George Whitcombe and printer George Tombs.

The company opened its first Auckland bookshop in 1916 and was merged to become Whitcoulls in 1971.

It moved from 186 Queen Street to the Whitcoulls Building at the corner of Wellesley and Queen Streets in 1991.

Auckland Director of Investment Sales at Colliers, Gareth Fraser, says Auckland’s CBD is a dynamic commercial environment with excellent proven and continued value growth.

“Significant commercial, retail and residential development in the surrounding area attests to the strength of the location.

“The property is within walking distance of all the CBD has to offer. Queen Street itself benefits from the highest pedestrian count in the CBD, with foot traffic of more than 1.1 million people every month.

“The area is set to benefit from the City Rail Link, currently under construction, and the nearby Aotea Station on Wellesley Street, which is expected to be the busiest station on the network upon its completion.

“Parks, fashion shopping, dining, hotels, entertainment, and education facilities, including both of Auckland’s major universities, are all within a short distance.”