CBD News & Trends

[fudosan]

Line 7 retail store on Hobsons Wharf may not survive

He said the business didn't hedge itself against the recent big falls in the dollar "which we normally did but we just didn't think it would drop as aggressively as it had, so that had a significant impact for this season on our margins".

As well, its customers had been slow to pay their bills, and the firm hadn't reacted quickly enough in cutting overheads.
...
It had tried to address the situation by looking to license its casual brand to other companies and get out of some of its shop leases, with limited success.

What it means is that sales have dropped but costs have rocketed, thus creating a cashflow problem. It looks like the company was trying to get out of the retail business to concentrate on wholesale. I suspect the Line 7 retail store on Hobsons Wharf on the waterfront will be gone soon.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/surviving-...ectid=10581527

[fudosan]

Bob Jones bought Forsyth Barr Tower for $41.5m

Robt Jones Holdings Ltd confirmed yesterday it had bought the Forsyth Barr Tower in Shortland St, and the seller, the AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund, confirmed the price - $41.5 million.
...
the tower had 11,774m² of net lettable area, with 155 basement parking spaces.
...
The Forsyth Barr Tower & WHK Gosling Chapman Tower were built in 1986-87 by Mainzeal Construction Ltd, as 2 linked towers of 14 & 15 storeys containing a total 22,970m²
...
Commenting on the timing, he said: “While it may seem puzzling to be proactive in a recessionary climate, in fact that is the modus operandi of a permanent investment company. Others ride out busts, we ride out booms, during which time we concentrate on enhancing & enlarging our existing portfolio.”

The part that catches my attention is Bob Jones's strategy: buying when the economy is bad.

Source: http://www.propbd.co.nz/afa.asp?idWe...&SID=324179452

[Davo36]

Well yeah, he keeps saying he is buying when things are bad, but prices for commercial property have held up really well. He seems to be buying right at a time when prices are very high to me.

[CycleTrader]

Is there information on the yield he has bought at and the passing rents? I'm no expert in the commercial property area but my sense is that there is a whole lot of pain still happening in the local economy and that we haven't yet seen the peak in business contraction, unemployment, office vacancies etc. Overall I would have assumed that the market is going to see rents forced further downwards and yields up.

So question is how well is this particular building insulated from the market average?

Just glad Bob doesn't visit these forums or I'm sure we'd get a roasting for daring to comment!!! Of course we could also learn something!

CT

[chrisred01]

Hey, it's only 4 mill... come on!

[CycleTrader]

Hey, it's only 4 mill... come on!

Missing a zero there Chris!!

[Davo36]

Candid article about 21 Queen St, owned by AMP NZ Office Trust. Spent $106m, worth $71m, still mostly empty:

Link

[spurner]

Ah the joys of investing in property trusts. Which you have no control over.

Don't worry though, it's in the hands of property professionals.

Candid article about 21 Queen St, owned by AMP NZ Office Trust. Spent $106m, worth $71m, still mostly empty:

Link

[Davo36]

Handsomely paid professionals too! They must really know what they're doing.

[fudosan]

New hotel underway

The Shell service station and Famous Flora’s at the corner of Pitt St and Vincent St in the Auckland CBD will soon be no more, making way for a new hotel.

Australian-owned Metro Hospitality will build its first New Zealand property on the site, to be completed in time for the Rugby World Cup.

Not sure what's gonna happen to hotels built for the World Cup?


Source: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/brothel...m-hotel-105973

[fudosan]

Telecom shows more corporate headquarters will move to Auckland CBD, increasing demand for offices.

Telecom's head of corporate property, Jim Robb, said other less central locations were rejected because of staff preferences, public transport, the location of customers, partners and suppliers.

"We could have gone south or west or north and paid a lower rent. When when we did a massive demographic study on where our people live it became apparent there would be significant impact to lots of people if we went anywhere other than the city centre."

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/commercial...ectid=10586783

[fudosan]

New hotel plan for Metropolis tower

I couldn't figure out what kind of food and beverage business he's was talking about. A burger shop? Liquor store? The bar and restaurant were doing poorly before they were closed down. Few more shops are vacant as well. What can revive Metropolis?

Nicholson wants an initial 100 units rebranded Hotel Grand Metropolis and is critical of the building management and the tower's history...

He plans to open the areas on the ground level - once the Courthouse Bar and Courthouse Restaurant - as the hotel's food and beverage business. These areas have been shut and were last run as dining and drinking areas under former hotel operator Singapore-based Ascott.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/n...ectid=10587029

[fudosan]

Hard times force landlords to be flexible

Auckland's premium CBD office vacancies are picked to rise from 0.9 per cent vacancy to 2.6 per cent vacancy by next December... Rents are falling in both centres and have declined by 9 per cent in Auckland in the last six months. The market has shifted towards the tenants and they have the opportunity to negotiate on their terms now, the Goldman report noted. Landlords are being forced to be more flexible and rent reductions were being given along with rent-free periods and leasing incentives. ... Auckland's rents will decline a further 6 per cent by next December

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/n...ectid=10587235

[fudosan]

Most expensive retail location in Auckland CBD?

Cor Queen and Wyndham St
Location: City Centre
Property use: Retail
Floor area: 250m2
Price: Asking price $2,100,000 per annum excl. GST
Property ID#: AQU013

Source: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=233918938

That's 8,400/sqm, which is defintely the most expensive retail location in Auckland CBD. Or is it not? A further check of the listing on Ray White's website shows that is a mistake. The rent should be 175,000, or only 700/sqm.

BTW, this location (155 Queen Street) used to be occupied by BNZ. BNZ is migrating to the new Deloitte Centre, which may be the reason for closure of this branch.

[muppet]

Auckland office vacancy picked to peak at 15%

Auckland office vacancy picked to peak at 15%

Jazial Crossley | Thursday August 6 2009 - 04:05pm
More offices in Auckland are soon to be sitting empty according to some industry experts who say the worst is still to come for commercial vacancy.
Research from Colliers shows office vacancy in the Auckland CBD has risen to 8.4% in June 2009 from 7.7% six months prior.
Colliers director of research and consulting Alan McMahon told an audience at a Property Institute of New Zealand breakfast event this morning that tougher times are still ahead.
“Office vacancy in the Auckland CBD will peak at 15% in 2011,” Mr McMahon said.
“We can also expect to see prime vacancies increasing to be nearly as bad as secondary for a while.”
This is in line with speculation from veteran commercial property investor Sir Bob Jones recently that commercial property will have hit the worst and be on the upswing a year later in 2012.
Vacancy in the Quay Park precinct is already currently at 14.7%, up from 10.5% six months ago.
The Anzac Avenue precinct is 13.5% vacant, up from 11.7% six months ago. The core precinct has risen from 6.8% to 8.2%.
The Western precinct is 9.2% vacant, up from 6.6% in December 2008. Vacancy in the Symonds St area has hit 11.2%, from 8.5% six months previous.
More tenants have moved in to the Britomart precinct, with vacancy softening to 6.5% from 8.7%.
The Upper Queen St precinct has eased from 10% to 8.8%, and midtown is down to 4.5% from 5.6%.
Wellington office vacancy has gone from 5% to 6% in the past six months, with the core CBD area suffering the most as vacancy rose from 4.3% to 6%.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/aucklan...peak-15-107105