Bell Tea industrial properties attract strong interest

A portfolio of four Bell Tea industrial properties, which included three properties in Auckland and one in Dunedin, has sold for a total value of $18.65 million. 

The properties were sold to different buyers and the largest sale of $10.8 million was achieved for Bell Tea & Coffee Company’s main production plant and head office in East Tamaki, Auckland, with other prices ranging from $335,000 to $5 million. 

Bayleys Real Estate’s Paul Dixon, who managed the sale of the portfolio, says the three East Tamaki properties which have new 12-year leases generated a lot of enquiry and multiple tenders.

“These are exceptionally long lease terms for industrial premises which, coupled with their strong location in one of New Zealand’s most sought after industrial precincts, meant they generated a significant amount of interest,” Mr Dixon says. 

“They are also very well presented and maintained buildings and the leases on all three East Tamaki properties had built in rental growth provided by annual CPI rent adjustments, with market reviews every three years.”

The individual sales were: 

• 43 Crooks Rd, East Tamaki: Purpose-built in 2008 as a state-of-the-art tea and coffee production facility. The 5463sq m premises on a 1.3745 hectare corner site sold for $10.8 million at a 5.8% yield, which Dixon says sets a new benchmark for a large industrial property in East Tamaki. Approximately 4000m² of adjacent bare land provides future development opportunities.
• 305 East Tamaki Rd, East Tamaki: A 4175sq m industrial facility on a 6052 sq m site, it sold for $5 million at a 7.2% yield.  This was formerly Bell Tea’s main Auckland production plant, which was significantly renovated in 2008 and is used as a production, storage and distribution facility by Bell Tea.  
• 317 East Tamaki Rd, East Tamaki: a 1750sq m industrial building on a 3035sq m site sold for $2.52 million at a 6.7% yield. Originally acquired to facilitate possible expansion of the neighbouring Bell Tea plant it is now leased to Eagle Wire Products. 
• 15 Hope St, Dunedin: 2623sq m processing and warehouse facility, built in the early 1920s and added to in the 1950s and 1980s, sold with vacant possession for $335,000. The building requires seismic strengthening.