A transformational new retail precinct is being created in Mt Roskill featuring anchor tenants Rebel Sport, Briscoes Homeware and Kreem Café on long leases at 4 Carr Road, Mt Roskill, and the last opportunities to lease space in the development are disappearing fast.
The new precinct, which is being created by successful developers Location Group, is immediately adjacent to one of Bunnings’ most high-profile sites and opening up new shopping and dining opportunities in Mt Roskill, traditionally a residential and light industrial area of Auckland.
Tim Male and Kurt Vernall of CBRE’s Retail team are marketing leasing opportunities within the last remaining 306sqm new building in the precinct.
Male says that this is a major, flexible opportunity for food and beverage operators to join high performing and well-recognised brands Rebel Sport, Briscoes Homeware and Kreem Café.
“We envisage that the one remaining building for lease could have one or more food and beverage operators who would rub shoulders with and feed off the traffic generated by the national drawcard brands.
“With high quality neighbouring café Kreem now committed to the precinct, this last available space would suit a convenience food outlet or a complementary tenant to the neighbouring retail. A food and beverage operator would add further to the precinct and help to continue the transformation of this area.”
However, he says that time is running out for any business looking to get in to the precinct. “Location Group is on site now, demolition and early earthworks are underway, and on-site completion is scheduled for November this year.
“For tenants that commit sooner rather than later, there is the opportunity to be more involved in the design and layout of the space, tailoring the tenancy to their exact needs.”
The property available for lease is a new, purpose-built 306sqm standalone structure that is currently under construction along the road frontage, says Vernall.
“With Rebel Sport and Briscoes Homeware on board, this property could be a single unit for a big, established food and beverage operator or split into smaller tenancies.
“The 5,321sqm precinct is transforming and re-purposing a classic industrial building on site, creating two new buildings alongside it and 122 carparks.”
The development opportunity came about approximately two years ago when John Bedford at CBRE started working with Location Group on finding a solution for the site.
“The project has been going for quite some time now,” says Bedford. “It is the conversion of an existing industrial warehouse, which we leased to Briscoes Homeware and Rebel Sport, creating new retail formats of 2,092sqm and 1,220sqm stores for them on a long-term lease.
“With Location Group, who have been fantastic to work with, we looked at different scenarios: a brand-new build, or a conversion of the existing buildings. In the end, a hybrid solution was the best way forward, as the current bricks and mortar would work for the main spaces, Location Group did exceptional work to get the retail use approved through the unitary plan, and we started leasing discussions.
“Briscoes had been looking at the area for some time, and they liked the idea of being next to Bunnings, a site that Location Group had previously been involved in. There is an established connection between the attractions of DIY and adjoining retail, food and beverage. The precinct will draw considerable custom not only from people shopping at Bunnings and a lot of sports locations nearby, but it will become known as a destination in its own right.”
Established in 1972, Location Group has created numerous new commercial, industrial, and mixed-use developments that have transformed the areas which they are in. The company specialises in identifying areas of unfulfilled or tenant-driven demand, creating projects in locations as diverse as St Lukes Mega Centre, Zone 23 in Mt Eden, Grace Apartments in Victoria Quarter and the EMA Business Hub on Khyber Pass Road.
Director Chris Davies says that the group’s focus has been on residential new builds and quality refurbishments across Auckland’s inner-city suburbs.
“Our focus has widened over the years to encompass the successful completion of numerous commercial and industrial refurbishments, our experience in both commercial and residential projects is being put to effective use in creating mixed use communities that are both exciting and innovative.”
In terms of Location Group’s history at 4 Carr Road, Davies says that when the opportunity came up to buy the site three years ago, they saw it as a strategic landholding in a growth area that had the opportunity for a change of use.
“We felt that even though it was being used as a manufacturing and industrial facility at the time, it had a better and higher use as a retail development. We could see that Carr Rd was evolving demographically and new retail and food and beverage was needed to service the community. We saw the opportunity to regenerate some of the older industrial buildings and provide an amenity for the neighbourhood.”
With Auckland becoming more nodal as a city under the Unitary Plan, Davies says that the new development would have scale in an area ready for a modern retail centre. And the chance to do something of scale with Bunnings next door wasn’t to be missed.
“We were fortunate to get Rebel Sport and Briscoes Homeware on long leases, comprising about 85% of the development. With them on board, we had the all-important scale for the development to work really effectively.”
Location Group has enjoyed a long relationship with Kreem Café. “When we got the opportunity to set up a large standalone café we thought it was complimentary to the development to offer a destination Kreem Café there. There are limited food offerings in the area, particularly with such excellent car parking, so we are bringing in good new, high quality additions, and we are now looking for a complimentary offering to Kreem Café in our last space.”
Vernall says that this creates an exciting opportunity for the right organisation to be part of an evolving area.
“We love sites with great road frontage, and Carr Rd has that. Its proximity to the motorway network via nearby State Highway 16 - and thus the city and airport - is strong also. The advent of the tunnel has been a great thing for the whole area and is powering its evolution. The area is getting stronger and stronger demographically, and with New Lynn and St Lukes a long way away the potential for any operator in this location is strong and getting stronger.
“This site, just like the surrounding area, is enjoying a new lease of life. When the development is complete, it is going to become a regional drawcard. It therefore represents a tremendous opportunity for the right operators to come in here, but they’ll have to move fast so they don’t miss out.”ABOUT CBRE GROUP, INC.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2017 revenue). The company has more than 80,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 450 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com..
