One of New Zealand’s most prominent retail assets – Manukau Supa Centa – is coming to market for sale. The powerhouse Large Format Retail (LFR) Centre is underpinned by over 39,000m2 of gross lettable area (GLA) and anchored by a range of international and national flagship retailers, including a 24-hour trading Kmart which is one of the top-performing Kmart stores in the retailer’s Australasian network.
Manukau Supa Centa is interconnected and co-located with Harvey Norman, Bunnings Warehouse and Mitre 10, providing significant critical mass with a combined GLA for the precinct of more than 67,000m2.
Handling the sale is JLL’s Australian & New Zealand Retail Investment Teams directed by Nick Willis and Sam Hatcher along with Auckland-based, Jonathan Ogg and Harry Fergusson.
Nick Willis commented on the opportunity, stating, “Rarely do 100% interests in dominant retail assets in Metropolitan Auckland, such as Manukau Supa Centa, become available. This will represent the largest 100% interest in a New Zealand Large Format Retail centre to ever be offered for sale and provides new entrant investors an opportunity of immediate scale.
“Institutional Retail investment opportunities across the Australasian region continue to be tightly held, in particular Large Format Retail. In New Zealand, there were no multi-tenanted LFR sales in 2024, and in Australia, the average volume over 2023/24 was some 47% below the prior five-year average. With globally improving sentiment towards the sector, New Zealand’s favourable tax regime, recent and forecast interest rate cuts, we are experiencing a heightened level of capital demand for New Zealand investment opportunities,” said Willis.
Manukau Supa Centa has recently undergone a significant refurbishment and expansion, including the brand-new relocated and expanded Kmart tenancy, introduction of Zone Bowling, and Fitness Cartels first international store. In addition, the Centre is home to New Zealand flagship Baby Bunting and supported by other powerhouse brands, including Super Cheap Auto, Glassons, Rebel Sport, Noel Leeming, Animates and Briscoe’s.
Strategically positioned in the heart of the Manukau town centre precinct, 21km south of the Auckland CBD, the centre lies just 400 metres from Manukau train station and has a flexible metropolitan centre zoning which permits large-scale mixed-use development of up to 72.5 metres or approximately 24 storeys.
Sam Hatcher said, “Manukau Supa Centa’s strategic last mile location provides the centre with access to more than 47% of Auckland’s population within a 25-minute drive time, cementing its dominance and infill nature. This unique position, large land holding, and low site coverage of the centre provides the incoming owner significant future development opportunities.
“Further to this, the LFR sector continues to outperform, with supply and demand imbalances driving strong income growth in the asset class. Manukau Supa Centa has a unique lease expiry profile affording the incoming owner an opportunity to capitalise on this thematic,” said Hatcher.
Auckland, given its favourable northern New Zealand location, continues to be sought after by residents and businesses. Research by Location IQ shows that the Auckland region is growing faster than the rest of New Zealand. Manukau Supa Centa’s main trade area is expected to grow to 587,567 persons by 2046, indicating a growth rate of 1.2% per annum (which is in line with Australia) vs the New Zealand average of just 0.6% per annum.
Harry Fergusson highlighted, “We are experiencing a renewed level of investor confidence locally in New Zealand as capital sources are resonating with the strengthening macro landscape. Retail floor space supply in New Zealand is one of the lowest globally, representing approximately half of Australia’s supply per capita and just a quarter of the US’s supply per capita.
“The lower supply levels combined with an inability to replicate existing assets due to growing construction costs underpins the fortress nature of Manukau which are expected to lead to outperformance on tenant sales and income growth. Further to this, Manukau Supa Centa is the last major LFR asset south of the Auckland CBD set to capitalise of significant population growth in this southern corridor,” said Fergusson.
This is the first time Manukau Supa Centa has been formally offered for sale by since 2007, and is being offered for sale by way of a formal International Expressions of Interest campaign closing 16 April 2025.
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