opening of the first retail stage of Commercial Bay in mid-2018, with the balance of the centre opening in the first quarter of 2019.
PROPERTY & BUILD
Apartments active
In the residential apartment sector, supply pressures will continue despite the completion of many of the apartment projects launched two to three years ago, such as Skhy in Grafton and Botanica in Mount Eden. Investors who bought apartments off the plans could benefit from substantial capital gains. We are aware of apartments in Botanica selling for between $200,000 to $350,000 more than their purchase price – an increase of 25-30% over a two-and-a-halfyear period. Auckland’s undersupply across the office, industrial and residential sectors will continue to have positive flow-on effects for the other centres in the ‘Golden Trian-
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gle’, which is the fastest-growing area in New Zealand. Hamilton will continue to attract large industrial users, as evidenced by Visy’s $100 million design build deal to establish a new plant at Hamilton Airport. This growth is being enabled by substantial infrastructure investment including Ports of Auckland’s Waikato Freight Hub, Tainui Group Holdings’ Ruakura Inland Port, and continuing improvements to the Waikato Expressway. The Tauranga market will be fuelled by growth in both the residential and industrial sectors. A number of high-density residential projects are in the pipeline, while the Tauriko Business Estate continues to attract substantial industrial users like freight and logistics company NZL Group, which plans to move from Mount Maunganui to a $20 million purpose-built facility.
YEARBOOK 2018 PROPERTYANDBUILD.COM
Wellington facing central office demand woes The capital’s CBD office vacancy has dropped to record new lows, highlighting an acute shortage of office space that is especially apparent in the prime sector
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emand pressures have continued to grow following the loss of nearly 100,000 sqm of office space since November 2016 - will new office supply in Wellington this year alleviate some of those pressures? Office vacancy in Wellington reached a record low of 7.4% in our December 2017 survey, down from a pre-earthquake level of 10.5% in November 2016. There is little relief in the prime sector, with less than 300 sqm (or 0.1%) of vacant space available. Vacancy in secondary space has also dropped, declining 3.3% to 9.1% (103,147 sqm) compared to a
year ago. The completion of new office developments in Wellington added 38,800 sqm in 2017, but has done very little to alleviate demand. One of the largest additions is the new Transpower building at 22 Boulcott Street (8,440 sqm), which allowed the tenant to consolidate two office locations. Vacancy is unlikely to lift anytime soon. Both 20 Customhouse Quay and The PwC Centre are expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2018, adding 26,400 sqm to the total office stock, but