New industrial units for lease at booming Te Rapa Gateway

Amidst a shortage of industrial property available for lease in one of New Zealand’s fastest growing regions, a new tranche of six warehouse-office buildings at Hamilton's Te Rapa Gateway industrial park have been put on the market for lease off the plans.

Otago Port's subsidiary Chalmers Properties is developing the 60-hectare Te Rapa Gateway precinct, which is setting a new industrial benchmark in the region.

It was intended to supply 20 years’ worth of industrial land, but in just five years more than 60 percent of the land is already committed and the second stage of the units for lease are not expected to stay on the market for long.

Bayleys Hamilton leasing agents Alex Ten Hove and Anne-Marie Brown, who are marketing stage two on Clem Newby Road, said demand for industrial land and property in Hamilton is outstripping supply and similar leased units developed in stage one on 700 Arthur Porter Road were snapped up.

“This project is filling a hole in Hamilton’s industrial leasing market and lifting the standard in Te Rapa,” Mr Ten Hove said.

“With industrial vacancy rates at all-time lows, the market has been waiting for a new industrial property at Te Rapa.

“Chalmers Properties invests in developing land sites and property for tenants, adding high-quality, low maintenance buildings with planted lawns and sustainable features at competitive rental rates,” he said.

The units range in size from 292 square metres of warehouse and 120 square metres of office to 545 square metres of warehouse and offices covering 140 square metres. Already under construction, they will be finished early next year, and lease prices vary from $66,000 plus GST to $104,000 plus GST a year.

“Engineered to meet the latest industrial requirements, the sites have covenants to protect property values, ensuring a good mix of high-quality tenants, including showrooms and national businesses,” Mr Ten Hove said.

“Designed to a high standard, a number of special features have been built in over and above requirements to create an attractive, fit-for-purpose development,” he said.

The units include ultra-fast broadband, on-site parking, high stud warehousing, roller doors, tilt slab construction, appealing office layouts with air-conditioning and 20 square metre canopies, “which all add to the benefits associated with the complex.”

“This approach has already attracted high quality tenants such as Metroglass and Prochem on a long-term basis, and the quality of the development was recognised at the recent Property industry awards.”

As the units are adjoining the six in stage one, there is full drive-through access between Arthur Porter and Clem Newby Drives. Mr Ten Hove said the major drawcard for tenants is Te Rapa Gateway’s location alongside the Waikato Expressway and The Base, the region's biggest shopping centre.

“Te Rapa Gateway is also close to developing regional infrastructure, including Ports of Auckland's inland port which was opened at the end of April and has Open Country Dairy, the country's second biggest exporter of dairy products, in an ambient store to consolidate its freight, Tainui Group Holdings 500 hectare inland port which is under development and the completion of the Waikato Expressway next year,” Mr Ten Hove said

Te Rapa Gateway is Hamilton's fasted growing industrial area and its zoning provides for a diverse range of warehousing, bulk storage, processing and manufacturing.

Companies which have set up at the industrial park include Christchurch machinery and tool supplier TopmaQ and O'Brien Plumbing and Bathroomware – both new businesses to Hamilton.

Several large businesses are now housed at Te Rapa Gateway and include Bidvest, Lely, Normans Transport, Southpac Trucks, roofing manufacturer Metalcraft Industries, packaging company Attwood, Hynds Pipes and Viridian Glass.

Growth has been driven by economic confidence in the Waikato, low interest rates and industrial land prices half of those for key Auckland industrial areas and quite a bit cheaper than Tauranga land, Mr Ten Hove said.

“Vacancy rates for industrial property are low and builders are struggling to keep up with the demand for new developments. Most of the new space is taken up before building even begins,” he said.

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