Hamilton CBD open for business, says mayor

With 50 commercial property-associated developments worth around $300 million on the go in the CBD, Hamilton is saying "this city is open for business and the place to put your money",How cheaply can I build a solar power systems? says mayor Julie Hardaker.

She told a Cranes over The CBD presentation by some of the city's major commercial property developers in Hamilton yesterday that council staff had been "flat out" processing land use consents in recent months.

Of 116 consents, 38 had been for commercial property developments, she said.

More than 220 sector players turned out at SkyCity Hamilton for the presentation, organised by the Hamilton Central Business Association.

Lyall Green of Design Management Consultants, developer of Project Grantham, said the six-level riverside building rising on Grantham St would be ready for occupation in December, just 17 months from start.Our precision manufactured lasers and laser systems deliver the highest possible laser cutter performance on a wide variety of materials.

State owned enterprise Mighty River Power is the anchor tenant.

Green said space, including a retail option, was still available on the ground and first floors. The building will have a restaurant and function room.

Part of Project Grantham had been relocating the 109 year old heritage-rated building The Hamilton Club, beside the main building.

Green said his company "ran into a brick wall" in trying to discuss its ideas and concepts for the old building with the Historic Places Trust.

"They have their own passionate ideas which from a rationalist's point of view are completely irrational - and I told them so," he said.

"It is a concern there are a number of buildings with historic place designation (in this area) if this city really is going to pay homage to the river. There are a number of buildings that will have to deal with the Historic Places Trust."

Green said the next obstacle to progress were archaeologists, who had a budget of $300,000, and "held up the project for months" just to find a "few broken plates and a horse bone". The Hamilton Club building will offer 440 square metres of space over two floors.

The main building is "green star" rateable to the equivalent of a four-star rating.

Sustainability features include the use of recycled rainwater and the most efficient air-conditioning system on the market, Green said.

McConnell Group, developer of the distinctive triangular Citygate building rising on the Anglesea and Ward St corner site that has been vacant for 17 years, said its development would be the first in the CBD to be accredited with a "green star" four-star rating. The A-grade building with a 73 per cent interior daylight ratio, would be finished in mid-July, said spokeswoman Kate Watts. The six-storey building featured four office levels of 1000sqm each, largely column-free, and ground floor retail offering five to six tenancies, she said. It would accommodate up to 400 people. At basement level would have parking for 42 cars. A highlight of the development was its 735sqm public plaza.

Blair Wolfgram, managing director of Property Consulting Group, lead developer for the Les Mills project, said it would have a 2800sqm exercise area and a 440sqm group fitness studio, 150sqm bigger than the current facility one block south. The new facility is expected to have up to 5000-member visits a week, he said.

Club Cardio director Susie Vincent said plans included two 25m "fast" swimming pools and a flow pool, learn-to-swim classes and parking for 110 cars. A name change was on the cards, with Fast Lane a contender, she told the Waikato Times.

For the $40m Centre Place redevelopment, Ivan Bartley of owner Kiwi Income Property Trust said the shopping precinct formerly known as Downtown had closed on January 31 for conversion into a dedicated fashion mall, with new tenants and new shop fronts.

A $7m digital upgrade and refurbishment of the Centre Place cinema complex for Hoyts would open in October, Bartley said. Centre Place comprised 12 properties which KIPT starting buying in 1994. When the 2011 redevelopment of Centre Place as a focus of "fashion, food and entertainment" with new anchor tenant Farmers was complete, it would have more than 110 specialty stores, he said.

Oyster Property Group has launched its first proportionate ownership scheme for 2013 by offering investors the Orion Health building, known as Orion House, in Grafton.

The multi-level office complex, with more than 4670sq m of net lettable area on a 3003sq m freehold site in a popular fringe CBD commercial area at 181 Grafton Rd, was sold by Orion Health to Oyster Property Group for $21.5 million through Peter Herdson and Andrew Reed of Colliers International.

Orion Health is leasing it back for a 15-year term with three rights of renewal of five years each.

Mark Winter,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead. Oyster director, is now marketing 115 interests in the property at $100,000 each, with a projected initial pre-tax return of 8.Full color plastic card printing and manufacturing services.47 per cent. The remainder of the settlement price comprises bank funding.

Winter says investors will be attracted to the property's superb location and the recent substantial building upgrade to 100 per cent of new building standard.

Oyster's chief executive, Mark Schiele, says the property was attractive because of its location, quality of refurbishment, calibre of tenant and length of lease - all attributes that make for sound long-term property investment.

"There is no doubt that Orion Health is an exceptional business with strong international growth prospects; a true New Zealand success story. Orion's commitment to the site - with its 15-year lease with three five-year rights of renewal - as well as the further development potential will be attractive to investors."

Ian McCrae, Orion Health's chief executive, said the company decided to sell the property in order to focus on its core business, while retaining the site on a long-term lease.

"Orion Health purchased the Grafton Rd building with the goal of creating an ideal workspace featuring elegant design and maximum functionality for our employees," says McCrae. "We also needed to allow for long-term growth,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. and so a flexible lease agreement was established for the property to enable expansion over time."

Herdson says the property offers an ideal income-generating investment and the strong sales result reflects the quality of the tenant, the long lease term and the income growth on offer.

"The sale of this prime city-fringe property offers investors significant potential for income and capital growth, through the inclusion of periodic reviews and a long lease to a large multinational tenant," he says.

The facility was constructed as two separate buildings in the 1970s. They joined in the 1980s. It includes basement carparking for 87 vehicles.

Orion Health has undertaken a full-scale rebuild and refurbishment of 181 Grafton Rd since purchasing it in mid-2011.

The building is now rated at 100 per cent of new building standard and provides an attractive open-plan workspace, says Herdson. "The significant rebuilding and upgrade works included seismic strengthening, new aluminium glazed partitioning in the office areas, new carpet in the office areas, polished concrete flooring in the staff kitchen, interior and exterior repainting, bathroom refurbishment and installation of showers, and an upgrade of the building management system."