Christchurch’s newest suburban retail and commercial hub is being sold down – offering investors unit title opportunities to secure investment property in the city’s fast-growing coastal quadrant.
The new hub at 987 Ferry Road in the south-eastern Christchurch destination of Ferrymead is appropriately named the 987 Centre. New tenants in the precinct began moving in during the latter part of October, with many of the remaining tenancy spaces under negotiation. The balance of the two hectare site is being developed as the new Mega Mitre 10 Trade drive-through.
Now all 14 unit titles, including car parks, in the 987 Centre are being marketed for sale individually by way of auction on December 1. Bayleys Canterbury Commercial salesperson Blair Young says the development sits on a high profile 5477 m² location with a 110 metre road frontage.
The 987 Centre retail hub overlooks Ferry Road which is the main arterial route linking central Christchurch with the coastal suburbs of Mount Pleasant, Redcliffs and Sumner – with a daily average traffic count of approximately 20,000 vehicles underpinning a substantial passing trade. Latest 2013 Census figures record 28,000 people living in the coastal suburbs and surrounding areas.
The 987 Centre also adjoins other substantial Ferrymead shopping complexes – featuring a conglomeration of hospitality operations such as Winnie Bagoes, Cosa Nostra Italian restaurant, Pizza Hutt, the Ferrymead Speights Ale House to name a few, main trading banks, fitness centres, medical and veterinary practices through to large retailers such as Mega Mitre 10 and the 4400 m² Countdown supermarket.
“With a high passing traffic count – sustained by a well-established surrounding resident and worker populations – we are expecting strong buyer interest from investors and potentially owner occupiers securing the remaining few vacant spaces,” Mr Young said.
“The appeal for these14 units going under the auctioneer’s hammer comes from having newly-built premises, constructed to 100 percent of New Building Standards, with a diverse range of established tenancies on long leases in a prime location. It’s the perfect buyer check-list.”
The tenancy mix within the 987 Centre hub features a veritable ‘who’s who’ of the retail sector. The 987 Centre is anchored by two of the major retail banks – ASB and ANZ, along with two of New Zealand’s foremost travel agencies – House of Travel and Flight Centre, and well known and nationally-branded convenience food outlet Pita Pit. Confirmed additional tenants are Bayleys, T-Sushi and Casbah Moroccan Grill.
Mr Young says the remaining unoccupied 987 Centre units would suit high volume lifestyle retail services, food and beverage operations and offices.
“New Zealand retailing, particularly in suburban destinations, has seen several development and geographic trends over the past decade – from the emergence of ‘big box’ retailing hubs attracting the likes of Mitre 10, Farmers, Harvey Norman, and Noel Leeming, through to suburban retail convenience hubs such as the 987 Centre in Ferrymead,” Mr Young says.
“These smaller neighbourhood complexes are predominantly based around short stay retail experiences, and are based on the cornerstone of food and beverage purchases.
“From this retail core, social amenities are bolted on – such as banks, medical centres, pharmacies, and 24-hour swipe card gymnasiums come into their own,” Mr Young says.
“The strategy for suburban convenience retail hubs is to lease to complimentary businesses in what is known as a ‘jig-saw’ mode where individual pieces fit together to create a bigger picture.
“The most common example of this is your typical Friday or Saturday night in the suburbs in virtually every New Zealand city – where dad and the kids get sent ‘down the road’ by mum to purchase dinner for the family and simultaneously pick up a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine to take home too.
“From a town planning and business model perspective, the establishment of the 987 Centre embraces two of the fundamental requirements for a successful retail hub. Firstly, it is adjacent to a high traffic arterial road with easy access and ample car parking. And secondly, it is the centre of a moderately affluent residential socio-economic catchment zone.”
