NZX-listed Investore Property is selling two of its regional South Island Countdown supermarket properties, both with long leases to General Distributors Ltd, owned by a subsidiary of Australia’s ASX-listed Woolworths Group.
Woolworths New Zealand owns and operates over 185 Countdown supermarkets nationwide, and Countdown is one of New Zealand’s largest private sector employers with 20,000 staff employed across their stores, support offices, processing plants and distribution centres.
The supermarkets for sale are in Stoke, Nelson and the prosperous regional centre of Blenheim, an area that has outstripped New Zealand’s GDP growth over the past two decades.
They are being marketed by Henry Thompson and Brice Clark of Whillans Realty Group. They’re up for sale by tender, closing on June 22.
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Thompson says single-tenanted, large-format retail properties like these, and especially those categorised as being an essential service provider, are held in high regard among investors because they’re seen as providing a defensive income with minimal management.
“Retail assets of this calibre seldom become available for that reason. They’re very tightly held,” he adds.
Clark says they’re expecting a lot of interest in the properties, which can be bought together or separately, because they appeal to family trusts, local syndicates and high net worth investors.
“After Covid, people are looking for safe haven investments with security of income. The investment environment has changed significantly.
“Being supermarkets, these properties are underpinned by the non-cyclical and everyday needs of the grocery sector. This has been reinforced by the sector’s solid performance through various Covid-19 lockdowns and now high levels of inflation.”
Countdown Stoke is centrally located in the heart of Stoke, just six kilometres south of central Nelson. It has a high-profile position on the corner of Putaitai Street and Main Road Stoke, sitting on a 3,823 square metre site.
Countdown has 9.4 years remaining on the current lease term and rights of renewal right out to 2072. The property is returning a net annual rental income of $796,566.
Built in 2008, it holds a 100% NBS seismic rating and delivers 2,659 square metres of floor area and has access to 89 car parks.
The supermarket is surrounded by an established residential catchment just 1.5 kilometres south of Nelson Airport and the Annesbrook Industrial Estate, the main industrial hub for the Nelson-Tasman District.
It is directly adjacent to an on-grade, 76-bay car park owned by the Nelson City District Council with an easement allowing shoppers to use it.
Clark says that like Blenheim, Nelson is also a prosperous regional centre with a diverse economy.
It’s the main service centre and commercial hub for the Nelson-Tasman District, home to approximately 113,200 people. Over the last 10 years the region’s population has grown by 1.6% per annum, on par with the national average of 1.5%.
Blenheim’s city centre Countdown meanwhile has more than eleven years of its lease to run and has a current net annual rental income of $777,704 with a final lease expiry date including all rights of renewal, in February 2065.
Built in 2000 and having recently undergone an exterior upgrade, the supermarket was purchased by the NZX-listed Investore Property Limited in 2015.
It is centrally located two blocks west from Market Street, the city’s main retail thoroughfare and the highly visible 3031 square metre site has four road frontages.
Like the Stoke Countdown, it adjoins a 140-space Marlborough District Council-owned car park, with a long-term license to occupy arrangement providing parking for shoppers.
In addition to servicing the supermarket, this public car park provides a valuable amenity for people visiting the city centre, driving two-way traffic between the supermarket and surrounding retail and hospitality venues.
As part of the recent upgrade, the supermarket’s exterior has been repainted and Countdown have completed an extension of online pickup bays for the store.
The main retail trade area is located at ground level with customer access provided from the car park. A mezzanine with offices and staff amenities is located on the southern side of the building and direct truck access is from Henry Street to the loading dock area.
- Article supplied by Whillans
