DNZ Property Fund has sold three properties and is going ahead with development of another at Queenstown.
The sales include one property in Auckland and two in Wellington as the company reduces debt.
DNZ was in the news late last year as plans for a cap
DNZ Property Fund has sold three properties and is going ahead with development of another at Queenstown.
The sales include one property in Auckland and two in Wellington as the company reduces debt.
DNZ was in the news late last year as plans for a capital raising and Stock Exchange listing were shelved after protests from major investors, particularly over a fees payment to two founding directors who control the management company.
The high-profile Auckland property at 7-19 Croftfield Lane, Wairau Park, on the North Shore is tenanted by Warehouse Stationery, Rug World and Curtain Supermarket. The purchaser has completed due diligence on the property with the contract conditional until April 13 and expected to settle on April 27, 2010.
The fund has also sold two properties in Lower Hutt, including Bunnings on the corner of Cambridge Terrace and Hollands Crescent and an office building at 266–274 High St. The High St property is leased to the Ministry of Social Development and Accident Compensation Corporation.
Syndicator Oyster Group has agreed to buy the Lower Hutt properties, undertaken due diligence and the contract is conditional until May 4 with a proposed settlement date of May 2010.
Tim Storey chairman of DNZ Property Fund has revealed the total sales price as $25.5 million, which he describes as “near the December 2009 valuations” for these properties, “and represent an excellent result given the difficult circumstances and uncertainty in the commercial property market at the moment.
“As previously communicated, the board is undertaking limited property sales to reduce the fund’s current bank debt and these are among the first of those sales.”
The expected advertising of the Lower Hutt properties by Oyster Group should reveal more about the value, yields and lease terms.
DNZ Property Fund owns 60 commercial office, retail and industrial properties in Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin. The properties have an overall occupancy rate of 96.68% over a net lettable area of 408,484m2, annualised income of $57.5 million with a portfolio value of $722.4 million.
Meanwhile, the related, Diversified NZ Property Fund is going ahead with the first stage of a new $9 million building at Remarkables Park Town Centre near Queenstown airport.
Diversified NZ Property Fund also owns a half share in Johnsonville Shopping Centre in Wellington and a share in Pukekohe Mega Centre. It is owned by two major Australian institutional superannuation fund managers and is managed by Diversified Management, part of DNZ Property Group.
Construction is scheduled to begin on the Queenstown property in two weeks for completion later this year. The building is located at the northeast corner, across the car park from New World and adjacent to Hawthorne Drive.
Leasing of the 1400m2 retail building is well advanced, according to Simon Curtis, property manager at DNZ. Confirmed retailers include Whitcoulls, The Coffee Club, Kapa Gallery and Canterbury of New Zealand.
In 2007 DNZ announced the $100 million acquisition of part of the Remarkables Park Town Centre at Queenstown. It owns about 12,000m2 in the 26,000m2 shopping centre.
