Plans are under way for a substantial industrial design-build at 632 Main South Rd, Hornby.
In a deal that has taken 18 months to broker, industrial specialists Gary Seear and Brian Adams of Colliers International in Christchurch, have sealed the deal on the industrial Greenfield site.
The strategically placed land is being developed by Queenstown-based Trojan Holdings for Hall’s Transport, one of the most sophisticated specialist refrigerated carriers in New Zealand.
The company is taking a 15-year lease on the 15,000m2 site, which includes a temperature controlled storage and distribution facility of 2700m2 combined with a large trucking yard. Hall’s currently operates from two sites in Hornby and Middleton but wants to amalgamate activities in one area.
Seear and Adams said the deal is the culmination of a year and a half of negotiations, initiated by a request to investors for possible sites, which could meet the necessary criteria.
“That request attracted by 10 viable propositions, after which we had to work through which would be most suitable for Hall’s. “
Alan Pearson, chief executive of Hall’s said the company would gain significant efficiencies and energy savings by consolidating its two Christchurch depots into a single one-stop shop.
“The new facility will allow us to offer a more efficient and comprehensive service to the South Island region and this will mean real benefits to our customers.”
Being designed and built by Arrow International, construction on the design build is expected to start after building consents in August with completion earmarked for February 2012.
Project director Malcolm Powell, of Arrow International, said that the Hall’s project was among many currently on the books of the design and construction company.
“We’re flat out. Last November we had around 40 project and construction managers – now we’ve got 150 and it’s growing all the time. This isn’t particularly confined to earthquake related work – much of it is the ‘business as usual’ projects we would be working on. It’s great news for Christchurch to see confidence returning and businesses making decisions to invest in the future of the City.
“I think clients are taking the opportunity to build now because they’re worried about the spectre of costs climbing in six months time – coupled with a shortage of capacity. Developers are trying to capture the window in the market at the moment.”
Seear and Adams said the Hall’s deal reinforced the strong industrial market, following the news that Kathmandu Holdings is planning a new multi-million dollar national distribution centre in the Portlink Industrial Park in Christchurch and plans for a $15 million Coca-Cola bottling plant is to be built in the city.
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