Racing Board premises on the market for sale

Media Release
20.10.2016

Racing Board premises looks a good bet for commercial property investors

The land and buildings housing the New Zealand Racing Board’s Waikato operations have been placed on the market for sale.

The two storey freehold premises at Te Rapa Road on the northern outskirts of Hamilton is a 797 square metre building on 1542 square metres of land – incorporating a workshop with roller door access on the ground floor, with storage and office space on the first level.

The New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB), which runs the TAB betting agency and TAB Trackside TV and radio channels, is currently the sole tenant of the building – utilising the location as the base for its Waikato and Bay of Plenty operations including race-day and on-site filming for Trackside, on-course betting and supporting the local TAB retail network.

The upper level floor space also formerly housed the TAB national call centre – allowing customers to make telephone bets on horse and dog races as well as selected sporting events.

The NZRB is in the process of relocating its Waikato operations to new premises nearby in Te Rapa early next year. The call centre operation has already moved out of the premises.

The NZRB has owned the Te Rapa Road location since the 1980s – with a film studio amenity built in 1989. The building is constructed to 65 percent of New Build Standards.

The address is zoned for industrial use under Hamilton City Council’s city plan – encouraging economic use for the location. The land and buildings at 391 Te Rapa Road are comprised of two lots on one title are being marketed for sale by Bayleys Hamilton through a tender process closing on November 18.

Bayleys Waikato Commercial Manager Richard Graham said the building was constructed of solid low-maintenance materials and came with 23 car parks on a fully sealed yard. He said there was the potential to convert the ground floor area into a showroom or retail space – supported with the high number of car parks immediately outside the building or to redevelop the site.

The Rateable value of the two lots is currently $1.62m.

“From an investment perspective, potential purchasers are likely to consider the cost of refurbishing and modernising the building when calculating the property’s value,” Mr Graham said.

“The interior fitout and décor is fairly basic and would require some capital expenditure to freshen the building in order to lease the space at competitive market rates. With 23 car parks available, the property could easily accommodate a medium-sized commercial tenancy. It’s location is enhanced by being on the city’s main northbound arterial route.”

Te Rapa’s tenancy mix a number of ‘big box’ DIY and building trade operators such as Bunnings and Mega Mitre 10, along with vehicle dealerships, furniture showrooms, and commercial services companies.

Mr Graham said that most of Te Rapa Road was now highly developed and tenanted - with Hamilton City Council expressing a preference for industrially-tenanted property development on any remaining available land.

He said the NZRB land and buildings being offered for sale would be covered by the council’s ‘existing use’ policy for commercial occupation, or under the council’s own policies, could well receive favourable consenting for development into an industrial premises.

“The Te Rapa corridor is contained within a council zoning which recognises existing office and retail activities which have been established under the previous planning regime. The council zoning provides for the continuation of existing office and retail activities which reflect the standards in the previous district plan whilst encouraging a return to industrial uses,” Mr Graham said.

“The expansion of existing activities or establishment of any new or additional retail or office activities tenancies is not envisaged in this area. So the future of the site at 391 Te Rapa Road is perfectly positioned at a fork in the road – with developers able to take either a commercial or industrial route.

“Hamilton Council’s industrial zone provisions seek to ensure that city’s industrial land is not occupied by land activities that are non-industrial - unless those activities are either ancillary to industrial activity, support industrial activities, or are more appropriately located within an industrial environment than a business centre.”

Tenders close at Bayleys Hamilton office at 4pm on Friday November 18th.

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