Mark Macauley: The Influencers
International and national investors are continuing to show strong interest in the Christchurch commercial property market. After the earthquakes, a lot of those buyers shied clear of the city but that’s certainly changed now with more and more enquiry from buyers outside the city – for both bare land and significant commercial and industrial buildings.
As Auckland becomes more expensive with accompanying low yields, Christchurch returns are looking more and more attractive, especially considering the comparable quality of buildings and tenants. In the past two years, there have been numerous chunky sales to national and international buyers totalling more than $200 million.
High profile syndicates such as Auckland-based Augusta Capital, are particularly active, most recently spending $53.75 million to add Castle Rock Business Park to its industrial property portfolio. The deal is believed to be the largest industrial property sale in the South Island. Of the four bids we received for Castle Rock, three were from North Island interests.
Another Auckland syndicate, Silverfin Capital, bought Metro Glass in Hornby, a private Auckland investor picked up the Online Distribution building in Woolston, the sale and leaseback of the Turners & Growers was to an Auckland buyer, as was Tait Technology Centre.
Inner city offices PwC and Duncan Cotterill Plaza attracted the attention of an international buyer in off-market deals while Queenstown-based syndicate Mitchell Mackersy recently bought Opus House in Moorhouse Avenue. This sort of activity certainly augurs well for Christchurch and we don’t see it waning any time soon.
