Botany Town Centre has been placed on the market, offered as a complete sale of the entire 61,000sqm complex.
Located on a 17ha freehold site, 19km from Auckland’s CBD, the centre generates more than $330 million in annual turnover. Its tenants include New World, Farmers, Rebel Sport, Briscoes Homeware, Hoyts, H&M, Mecca Maxima and Hallenstein Brothers.
JLL and Colliers have been appointed to manage an international Expressions of Interest (EOI) campaign, scheduled to launch in September.
Sam Hatcher, head of retail at JLL Australia & New Zealand, said Botany is the only regional shopping centre with a 100 per cent interest available for sale in Australia or New Zealand.
“Botany provides an opportunity to establish scale through a single transaction, rather than acquiring individual assets over a number of years to build a comparable position.”
The centre’s East Auckland catchment has a median household income around 21 per cent above the New Zealand average, with retail spending forecast to reach $9.4 billion per annum by 2038, up 33 per cent.
New Zealand has 0.6sqm of retail floorspace per capita, compared with 1.0sqm in Australia and 2.2sqm in the US. The lower supply is supporting occupancy and rental growth.
In addition, Botany has development capacity. Its 53 per cent site coverage and mixed-use zoning allow for an estimated 500,000sqm or more of additional floor space, subject to consent.
Lachlan MacGillivray, head of retail investment services at Colliers, said specialty rents at Botany are below the comparable benchmark for major regional centres in Auckland.
The sale comes as direct real estate investment in Asia Pacific rose 31 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter. The region recorded its strongest opening quarter on record.
Nick Willis, executive director of retail investments at JLL Australia & New Zealand, said investor demand for New Zealand retail is increasing. Occupancy is at or near record highs, alongside rental and sales growth.
“This is a sign of how resilient New Zealand retail trading conditions have become.”
He said pricing and competition in Australia are prompting investors from Australia, the US and Asia Pacific to seek relative value in New Zealand.
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