Porirua property heats up the auction room

The Property
• 1,359sqm of lettable floor area split over two levels on 709sqm with three car parks
• Mix of retail at ground floor, tidy office tenancies and an immaculate function hall, kitchen and meeting rooms (vacant at time of sale)
• 20% earthquake assessment with an engineering solution to upgrade it to plus 67%
• Tenants on varying lease terms and returning net income of $65,093 + GST per annum
• Future residential development potential given maximum build height of 30 metres
• Zoned City Centre

Quick Look
• National Total Property marketing campaign – by auction
• Interest generated via Bayleys’ databases, Total Property magazine, Dominion Post advertising
• Strong enquiry from mainly local buyers
• SOLD under the hammer for $1,625,000, after spirited bidding came down to two motivated parties
• Purchased by local church entity

The Story

This property, occupying a prominent corner spot in the southern sector of the Porirua CBD, presented the market with plenty of options.

Target buyers included developers, add-value investors and owner-occupiers like community groups or training providers requiring large, vacant space.

Fraser Press, Simon Butler and Jon Pottinger of Bayleys Wellington Commercial took the property through a concentrated auction campaign and discovered the market had a strong appetite for this sort of offering.

“Porirua is on a growth trajectory and the CBD area is in high demand,” said Fraser.

“This property, while well-maintained by the vendors, did have some identified seismic issues however this did not seem to rattle the market which, frankly, has become quite used to these assessments.”

The property’s City Centre zoning opened up the buyer pool to developers, with Porirua’s CBD expected to embrace higher density residential living giving wider housing choices for the growing community.

“Ultimately, the bidding in the auction room came down to two motivated owner-occupiers looking to cement a presence in a convenient and accessible location,” said Fraser.

“Rarely does a property of this size and scope come to the market in the centre of Porirua and with existing tenants providing an income stream, the new owner, a local church entity, will be able to effectively utilise the function hall and amenities for its congregation while getting a return on its asset.”

Vendor Comment

Paul Taylor, secretary/treasurer for Ngatitoa Lodge, praised Bayleys for its professional approach and said the eventual sale price well-exceeded expectations.

The friendly society Ngatitoa Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), Porirua decided to wind up following the closure in 2014 of the head office of the IOOF NZ in Dunedin.

Paul Taylor said declining membership, along with the decision to cease the ongoing management and operation of a commercial building complex, led to the property’s sale in early-2022.

“Although there had been approaches by a number of private parties interested in buying the building in recent years, these never reached a negotiated final settlement,” he explains.

“Hence the Lodge made the decision to approach Bayleys, given their reputation as a market leader, as it was not in a position to continue its operation in the short term and we were seeking market guidance.”

Paul said the Lodge fully supported the professional approach by Bayleys throughout the sale process, from the marketing through to the final auction.

“This included providing detailed explanations on processes, market expectations and even attending Lodge fortnightly meetings prior to the auction to update members on progress.

“Given indications we’d had from the market and from agent feedback during the campaign, the eventual sale price at auction was well above the Lodge’s expectations.”

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