An investment property occupied by the Albany Toyota dealership on a long lease in fast-growing Albany, on Auckland’s North Shore, has been placed on the market for sale by auction.
The corner property at 252 State Highway 17 and 8 Gills Road is being marketed by Andrew Hiskens and Jimmy O’Brien of Colliers International and will go under the hammer on June 27 at 151 Queen Street, Auckland, unless it is sold before the auction date.
John Bowring, Colliers International’s national auction manager, says the property, which is centrally located in Albany Village, offers a sound investment. “This is a great proposition for investors to secure an easily lettable commercial property with an international brand name tenant.”
Property and tenant
The 6967sq m property is spread over seven titles being sold as one parcel. The tenant, North Albany Motors (trading as Albany Toyota), is a well-established business and very successful Toyota franchise, says Hiskens.
“Toyota has been on this site for over 20 years, having been run by North Albany Motors since 1991. The property and business are therefore well known to locals and a familiar presence on State Highway 17,” he says.
“The dealership is well recognised as being one of the brand leaders for Toyota in New Zealand. It benefits from an iconic corner site with excellent visibility, and the tenant has invested considerable expense over the years to ensure the property exceeds Toyota’s rigorous standards for the presentation of its dealerships.”
The property is leased to North Albany Motors until 2017, with the right to extend for two further terms of six years each. Net annual rental income amounts to $381,500 and the rent is reviewed every two years, giving the potential for future income growth.
The property houses four main buildings providing around 2100sq m in total floor area and ample yard space. The main showroom and office building was constructed in 1992 and is an irregular-shaped, single level structure featuring extensive glazing. “The showroom was extensively refurbished three years ago, resulting in a very well-presented and customer-friendly facility,” says O’Brien.
Three other buildings are also on site. Two workshops house modern seven-bay and five-bay vehicle servicing areas, and a 570sq m warehouse to the rear of the showroom provides parts and accessories wholesale and retail facilities. Comfortable customer waiting lounges are also provided in the showroom and service areas.
“Dual street access points from Gills Road, and ‘test-drive-friendly’ roads surrounding the property further enhance the property’s convenience for customers,” O’Brien says.
Location
The property is located on an easily accessible corner of the intersection of State Highway 17 and Gills Road, surrounded by other automotive industry occupiers, O’Brien says. “The immediate vicinity makes up an automotive hub, with eight car dealerships within a stone’s throw of each other. The area is well-known to locals as a new and used car shopping destination.”
State Highway 17 was the main arterial route north before the construction of the Northern Motorway, and still carries large volumes of traffic, O’Brien adds.
Albany Village is a well-established suburb located toward the northern end of the rapidly expanding urban development area, commonly referred to as the Albany Basin, Hiskens says.
“This locality has a wide range of advantages from a business and residential perspective, in that it is situated close to many shopping and recreation facilities. The North Harbour Stadium, parks, Westfield mall, bulk retail centre and the Massey University campus are all within walking distance of the property, and other key facilities in the area include Albany Junior High and Kristin schools, the North Shore golf course and Unitec Institute of Technology.”
Excellent access to key transport routes is also provided via the Oteha Valley and Greville Road motorway interchanges and the new Hobsonville Deviation motorway extension also benefits the area. The area has often been advertised as being only 12 minutes’ drive north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Hiskens says the property lies in the immediate vicinity of the majority of new housing development that has been built in Albany within the past five years, providing a very large residential catchment for businesses in the area. “This large and growing customer base means the future looks bright for Albany retailers.”
The $150m Albany Heights Villas development nearby has recently won resource consent and is intended to provide 124 homes.
Projected population growth rates in Albany are significantly ahead of projections for both the Auckland region and North Shore City, with the wider Albany Basin expected to be the major recipient of the North Shore's projected population increase over the next 40 years.
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