One of Auckland’s largest business parks is being offered to the market in what shapes as New Zealand’s biggest property sale of the year.
Having undergone a significant transformation in recent years, Central Park in Ellerslie is home to a number of high-profile tenants, who are attracted to its central location, transport connectivity and vibrant retail amenity, including a new hospitality precinct called The Green.
Central Park is a 4.8ha site at 660 Great South Road with more than 43,000sq m of commercial floor space that is only metres from the Ellerslie train station and less than 10km from Auckland’s CBD via the Southern Motorway, which is accessible via the nearby Ellerslie and Greenlane interchanges.
Prominent occupiers such as Colgate, Bunnings, Estée Lauder and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency are among the 63 office tenants who are serviced by more than 1700 car parks.
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Two adjoining residential developments highlight the mixed-used credentials of the site and are expected to add up to 1000 residents.
Construction is well under way on one of the sites, which includes a 103-room hotel, and the other site, which has 83 townhouses, has experienced very strong pre-sales.
Oyster Property Group has transformed the business park since its acquisition in 2018 with extensive investment in The Green and upgrades to numerous amenities within the park.
When they took ownership, Central Park had an almost 20 per cent vacancy rate, which has been halved in the past three years.
The site has a stable and secure income profile, while there’s also a number of future development opportunities.
Mark Schiele, Chief Executive Officer at Oyster Property Group, says the site’s central location and proximity to transport networks and other amenities makes it highly appealing for prospective tenants.
“We have witnessed a significant increase in demand from corporate and government occupiers looking for an alternative to the CBD,” Schiele says.
“Central Park is now a thriving community in its own right. The investment made into creating The Green, a large outdoor space with entertainment options linked to food and beverage offerings, has proven to be very popular with new and existing occupiers.”
Schiele says retailers in Central Park will benefit from the adjoining residential developments given the influx of new residents to the area, reflecting the rapid growth of the precinct.
“Our engagement and activation of Central Park has started an important transformation, but this is just the beginning. I am really looking forward to seeing how the area will continue to evolve.
"The future development capacity now available provides Central Park with exceptional growth opportunities and I foresee another decade or more of evolution.”
Schiele believes Central Park presents a significant opportunity for investors given the development freedom of the site that will only enhance its offering to the market.
“Central Park will appeal to investors wishing to allocate capital to development. We have worked hard on enabling the prime Ellerslie asset to reach its full potential, and we are now in the fortunate position of having no development caps imposed on Central Park.
“In the medium term, we can add more than 30,000sq m of space to the area in a combination of redevelopments and new builds, making this super attractive to investors with a development mindset.”
Central Park is being offered to the market by joint sole agents Colliers and McVay Real Estate.
Richard Kirke, Director of Capital Markets at Colliers, says given the calibre of this asset there will be broad interest from both domestic and offshore institutional, high net worth and private equity funds.
“We still have strong offshore capital demand, despite New Zealand’s border restrictions, and sites like Central Park that offer so much future growth potential with excellent green spaces are highly appealing to investors,” Kirke says.
“While development is a likely step in Central Park’s future for its owners, we can’t rule out the attractiveness of the asset for investors. It is equally likely a passive or add-value investor will look to bank the attractive returns or investigate splitting up parcels of the site to potentially create additional value.”
Sam McVay, Managing Director at McVay Real Estate, says they have witnessed exceptional demand from investors looking to place capital in Australia recently – with many properties only able to be inspected virtually.
“Our experience in Australia leads me to believe we will experience significant offshore interest in Central Park, and we are incredibly excited about the development that is set to take place.”
The property is being offered to the market by way of an expression of interest campaign closing at 4pm on Thursday 4 November.
- Article supplied by Colliers
