A former Dunedin CBD supermarket turned-office-space has been bought by one of its tenants, Wilson Parking NZ, for an undisclosed sum.
The building at 360 Cumberland St is tenanted by Otago Polytechnic, the Ministry of Social Development and Wilson’s, which leases out 209 of the 270 car parks within the building.
Wilson Parking NZ chief executive Stephan Wuffli yesterday confirmed the sale.
Settlement is due at the end of the month.
Wilson’s is owned by Hong Kong’s Kwok family. According to Dunedin City Council’s rating information, the building has a rateable value of $10.3 million, and the 4900sq m property was generating more than $1 million annual income for the previous owner, from the three tenants.
Since April 2013, each tenant has been on a nine-year lease, with rights of renewal through to a final expiry in March 2028.
The sales pitch last November had said it may be possible this year, under council regulatory changes, to build another storey on to the property.
Mr Wuffli said Wilson’s had no immediate plans to develop the site, other than improving the current parking facilities with fresh paint, security and lighting.
The property opened as a supermarket in late 1995 but the Big Fresh supermarket closed in 2003, with the loss of almost 50 jobs, when then owner Progressive Enterprises decided that after large annual losses it was not worth spending up to $5 million refurbishing the building.
The building then had been owned by an overseas investment group and was sold in October 2013 for more than $10 million, to an anonymous local buyer. It was sold this month to Wilson’s by Oamaru Property Ltd, whose principal is Peter Lee, of Dunedin.
