Strategic Rural Warehouse Offered for Sale

The strategically located land and substantial warehouse building occupied by a pair of leading national primary produce support service companies – along with a community-focused disaster relief charity – have been placed on the market for sale.

The property in the Waikato township of Te Awamutu comprises a multi-tenanted large warehouse with drive-round traffic management flow outside. The location’s modern easy-care 1,885-square metre warehouse – currently split into three separate tenancies but with the capability of being further sub-divided into up to six premises – is situated on a 5,126-square metre block surrounded by security fencing.

The address at 249 Bruce Berquist Drive sits in the heart of Te Awamutu’s compact industrial precinct – a wedge of warehousing and factory properties sitting between State Highway 3 and Te Rahu Road, with Bond Road running through the centre.

Head tenant at the address, Vetpak, has been operating for almost 30-years – marketing a comprehensive suite of animal wellbeing supplies and supplements such as health improving mineral powders and tablets, performance enhancing electrolytes, antibiotics, pest management liquids, and sanitation cleaners.

Vetpak occupies the rear 1,180-square metre portion of the greater warehouse building. In addition to the Te Awamutu head office, Vetpak also has a South Island distribution centre in Mosgiel just out of Dunedin.

Complimentary adjoining tenant – soil fertiliser and nutrients supply company Fertco – occupies the middle 600-square metres of high-stud concrete-floored warehousing. Fertco was founded in the Bay of Plenty in 1999 and began producing the slow-release agricultural fertiliser dicalcic phosphate which works with soil bacteria to break down ground nutrients. Dicalcic phosphate is known for minimising phosphate runoff into waterways, and is also used as a feed supplement for sheep, beef, and even poultry, to sustain bone development, muscle function and strengthen eggshell quality.

Fertco expanded into its Te Awamutu location in 2021 when it purchased competitor Terra Care and quickly grew production at the aptly configured Bruce Berquist Drive manufacturing warehouse plant.

Both companies within the Bruce Berquist Drive property have benefitted extensively from the global demand for New Zealand’s protein products over recent years – most notably in consumption of sheep and beef meat, as well as skim and whole milk powder. Primary produce yields remained at elevated levels in conjunction with higher output levels – delivering a double-pronged income bonus for farmers.

Meanwhile, the remaining approximately 160-square metres of office and storage space at the front of the property is occupied by local community aid charity Aotearoa Disaster and Community Resources which was created following the devastating effects caused by cyclone Gabrielle early in 2023.

The officially registered charity collects and then redistributes food and household items such as bedding and clothing which would otherwise go to waste. In periods when there are no emergency crisis, food is distributed by Aotearoa Disaster and Community Resources through community organisations and schools to assist needy families and individuals who may otherwise go hungry.

Combined, the various trio of tenancies within 249 Bruce Berquist Drive generate annual rental returns of approximately $319,000 plus GST and operating expenses.

The land and fully tenanted building at 249 Bruce Berquist Drive in Te Awamutu are now being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Hamilton, with the tender closing on September 9. Salesperson Josh Smith said the modern easy-care property was a straightforward investment opportunity whose tenancies were deeply rooted in the coalface of New Zealand’s high-performing primary produce sector, as well as helping those in need within the province during times of hardship.

“The core of the Bruce Berquist Drive building was constructed some 17 years ago and was further added to over the intervening years as its tenants’ activities expanded. That tenancy growth – and the consequential building developments undertaken in full consultation and execution with the tenants to support their activities – have maximised land-use efficiency within the location,” Smith said.

“Constructed with steel framing, iron cladding, and tilt slab walls, the street-fronting portion of the property is supported by substantial sealed parking for seven vehicles immediately in front of the prominent office configuration, with parking space for another three vehicles on the yard around the side of the building.

“The property’s office space comprises a modern single-level structure containing a reception space, open-plan work area, stereotypical private offices, staff kitchen, and staff bathroom amenities. The two warehousing portions in the middle and rear of the building are individually serviced by full-height roller doors – allowing for access by large delivery trucks, while the expanse of sealed yard space allows for outdoor pallet storage.

“The design of the building means that in future, there is the potential that the office portion of the building could be integrated with the independent warehouse floor area in the middle portion of the structure. Or of course, it could continue to operate in its current configuration to sustain a three-tenancy model.”

Located some 30-kilometres south of Hamilton directly on State Highway 3, Te Awamutu has a population of approximately 12,000 residents.

“Te Awamutu’s strategic geographic location has been enhanced over the past few years by the opening of the Waikato Expressway. Fertco, and Vetpak both utilise the Bruce Berquist Drive premises as cost-effective warehousing storage facility and administrative destination. With both firms growing their operations across the broad middle stretch of the North Island, the location perfectly underpins their business operations,” Smith said.