Enquiry has been high on a large Christchurch commercial property built post-earthquake with salespeople fielding calls from local Cantabrians, South Island farmers, and investors based in Auckland and Wellington.

Built in 2017, the freehold property at 1 Pilgrim Place, Sydenham has 4,026sqm of net lettable floor area spanning the 6,739sqm site which runs parallel to busy arterial Moorhouse Avenue. The Commercial Retail Park zoning allows for large-format commercial activities, trade suppliers and yard-based retailing such as car yards.

This subject property’s location has dual access and works particularly well for one of the anchor tenants, Matthew Barr Motor Group trading as Christchurch Nissan, accommodating its service and parts department as a logical extension to the main dealership fronting Moorhouse Avenue.

The other anchor tenant is early childhood education provider Co Kids, which also has a presence in Auckland and Wellington. It was a founding tenant and is entrenched onsite in Sydenham with an initial lease of 15 years through until 2032, with two, 10-year rights of renewal beyond that.

Additional occupiers include Southland Gym, Paragon Computers, and Little Red Crab Eatery, and there is a 143sqm vacant ground floor office space and a vacant 110sqm first-level apartment. The property returns annual net income of circa-$837,000 plus GST and outgoings with the vendor prepared to underwrite the two vacancies within the property for a period of two years from settlement if required by a new owner.

The property is for sale by deadline private treaty closing 11th July through Benji Andrews and Simon Lagan, Bayleys Christchurch.

Andrews says the property was on the market previously via another agency, but leases have now been finalised and this time around it’s a more straightforward offering with the vendor genuinely motivated to see a result.

“This is a standout asset close to the central city with strong tenant covenant, location, seismic integrity and quality on its side,” he says.

“It offers a split-risk investment opportunity and the 100 percent new building standard status provides a layer of confidence that investors are seeking.

“Location-wise this is a 10-out-of-10 and it is a rarity to find high calibre post-earthquake investment stock with national brand anchor tenants so close to the central city.”

Despite some economic headwinds for investors currently, Andrews says Bayleys is seeing strong demand for quality commercial assets and it’s no surprise that enquiry is coming from outside the Canterbury region.

“Vacancy rates remain low in the sought-after precincts, and rents have been holding up – so the value-equation is there for investors.

“While there has been some disconnect between vendor and buyer expectations around price, quality assets hold their own in any market.”

Some of the interested parties for the subject property from out-of-town have indicated to Andrews that they would likely keep the vacant apartment for personal use, providing them with a base in the city.

“So there’s plenty of flexibility here for the right buyer.”

Click here for more information on the listing.