Beers ‘n’ kebabs are the latest offerings in suburban retail shopping hub sell down
The carefully planned sell down of commercial units within urban Rotorua’s Redwood Centre retail and healthcare hub
continues – with the Liquorland and Donna Kebab stores becoming the latest to be placed on the market for sale.
The 4,500 square metre Redwood Centre some three kilometres east of Rotorua’s central business district opened in
February last year – with 21 tenancies signing up to be part of the hub.
Every unit within the Redwood Centre which has been brought to the market for sale since then has been snapped up by
either Rotorua-based investors or several retail business owner/operators within the precinct.
Among the tenancies which have been sold are: Burger Fuel, the Anytime Fitness gym’, Domino’s pizza, the pharmacy and
physiotherapy practice, Couplands butchery, Mt Tarawera Fruit and Vege’, and most recently, Bin Inn which sold at
auction in July.
The latest individually-titled unit to go up for sale occupying 339 square metres on a corner site and generating an
annual rental of $85,000 plus GST.
The Liquourland outlet occupies 208 square metres of the property and is on a six year lease through until 2019 with
eight further three-year rights of renewal. The adjoining Don Kebab takeaway business occupies 131 square metres and is
on a five year lease through until 2019 with two further five-year rights of renewal.
The single storey retail site is being marketed for sale by Bayleys Rotorua with an auction taking place on October 31.
Bayleys Rotorua salesperson Mark Rendell said the continuing process of ‘drip feeding’ Redwood units onto the market was
part of the developer’s business model.
That model encompassed firstly converting the corner location from a dated, underutilised site into a slick,
fully-tenanted retail draw card straddling Rotorua’s central business district on one side, and the leisure-focused
lakes district on the other.
“The 100 percent sell down of the Redwood Centre to date means it has been among Rotorua’s most successful commercial
project for decades - reflecting the sustainability and attraction of its location, the quality of a modern build, and
the spread of tenants occupying the development,” Mr Rendell said.
“The commitments to new, long-term leases by the existing tenants have underpinned the attraction of the property from a
pure investment perspective. The building’s near-new age also means that there is minimal maintenance and certainly no
modernisation budget requirements which have to be accrued for.
“From an investment perspective, the sites within Redwood really do tick all the boxes, and have shown to deliver
excellent rental yields.”
Most buyers of Redwood units to date have come from the Greater Bay of Plenty region, with one Auckland-based investor
purchasing a premises.
The franchise-operated Liquorland Redwood outlet is part of the nationally-branded group formed in 1981 and now
featuring some 70 stores nationwide. Liquorland is owned by Foodstuffs New Zealand Limited, which has introduced its
vast retailing, liquor and franchise experience to the chain.
Meanwhile, the Don Kebab store is a stand-alone operation which has just begun slicing and dicing the
Mediterranean-styled wrap snacks at the Redwood Centre.
Redwood Centre has communal parking for some 205 vehicles – optimising shared usage periods throughout the day and into
the evening. The hub operates under a body corporate management structure. All buildings within the development,
including the Liquorland/DonKebab unit, are constructed of tilt slab concrete with long run steel roofing. The property
has certification for 100 percent of New Building Standards.
ends