A high-profile commercial building in Pukekohe’s town centre occupied by a range of complementary multi-disciplinary medical professionals along with a pharmacy, is on the market for sale.

Located at 10 West Street, on a prominent corner site at the Wesley and Tobin Streets intersection, the six freehold strata-titled units making up the property are being sold in two parcels as they have different ownership structures.

Five of the units – comprising around 90 percent of the building – occupied by Pukekohe Family Health Care, Labtests, Auckland Radiology and Pukekohe Physiotherapy are being offered as one lot, while the sixth unit which is home to Unichem Pharmacy, is to be sold separately.

Michael Block and Shane Snijder of Bayleys are marketing the properties by Deadline Private Treaty closing 4pm, Thursday 17th September (unless sold prior).

Purpose-built in the 1990s as a medical centre, the two-level fully-leased property has served its medical tenants well and is the town’s main healthcare centre.

The 3,999sqm site has 69 car parks and the buildings have been well-maintained with documented upgrades in the intervening years. The buildings have an assessed 85 percent new building standard seismic rating.

The pharmacy unit has a floor area of 184sqm and returns a net rental of $174,210 plus GST per annum, while the five other units – totalling 2,053sqm – return a net rental of $677,411.96 plus GST per annum.

The tenant businesses are on varying lease terms.

Block says while there is no denying that the medical hub is a valuable component of Pukekohe’s town centre, the true value of the site could be realised in the future through redevelopment.

“Pukekohe is recognised as a crucial node in the southern Auckland growth story and seen as central to part of an evolving housing solution for the wider Auckland urban area,” he says.

“Auckland Council has two structure plans which could see more than 34,000 homes built in the Drury-Opaheke and Pukekohe-Paerata areas over the next 30 years, with sites also designated for light industry and retail development to create more employment in the area.”

Electrification of the rail line from Papakura to Pukekohe along with two additional platforms at Pukekohe station and future proofing for additional lines, plus the proposed Pukekohe Expressway to provide an alternative route to SH22, are infrastructural pluses in Pukekohe’s favour as a residential area.

“The medical centre site is zoned Business-Town Centre which opens up potential redevelopment options for an astute investor who recognises the higher density mixed-use and residential opportunities that come with such a zone,” says Block.

“Town Centre zoning generally allows for more intensive development with a Height Control Variation allowing development up to 18 metres in height and permitted uses include retail, commercial, medical and residential.

“A developer could purchase these properties with a view to having holding income for the short-term while plans to optimise the site are progressed.”

While a strategic landbanking approach is most likely given Pukekohe’s growth fundamentals and the identified shortage of residential housing in the broader Auckland area, Block says he can’t rule out interest from entities on the healthcare property acquisition trail.

“The COVID-19 situation has crystallised the importance of community medical services and amenities and healthcare property assets are known to be a defensive investment class,” explains Block.

“Although we are only marketing the land and buildings associated with these Pukekohe medical-related businesses, there will be investors keen to secure property anchored by health professionals on the back of heightened appreciation for community health providers.

“This is a proven location for the delivery of family healthcare services and its ease of access and convenient position underpin its success.

“The fact that there are a number of independent health service provider tenants on varying lease structures makes it a split-risk investment proposition and the popularity of the one-stop healthcare model which sees complementary providers under one roof, should resonate with other practitioners should vacancy occur.”