Auckland, New Zealand, 2017-May-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — Foodstuffs North Island has sold its 4.0369ha site at 57 Kiln Street, Silverstream for an undisclosed sum. The supermarket company put the site on the market in March and tenders closed on April 12.
“Foodstuffs has been on this site since 1981, but no longer requires the entire 23,500sqm warehouse and office complex. We’re pleased that it will continue to be used for food purposes as it has been purchased by Upper Hutt company Farrah’s. The family behind Farrah’s have been making tortillas and wraps in the Wellington region since 1999,” Foodstuffs North Island General Manager of Property Development Lindsay Rowles says.
Farrah’s is a successful business with humble beginnings. Owners Farrah and Jovan Čanak started out by stretching and cooking each wrap by hand.
“In 1999, a friend who owned a local kebab shop commented that he couldn’t find a tortilla wrap that wouldn’t crack or split when rolled. That’s what sparked our business idea. An old fish ‘n chip shop became our first bakery, and we cooked each wrap on a hot plate over an open flame. We even went to Mexico and the USA to refine our craft,” Jovan Čanak says.
The company intends to start construction at Kiln Street in November, and will turn the site into a world-class export facility, meaning it will continue to grow as valuable employer to the region.
“Foodstuffs is now seeking office space in the Hutt Valley for the 100 or so staff we have in Wellington,” Rowles says. “This is a chance for us to significantly upgrade our office premises for our Wellington staff and provide them with a more modern working environment,” Rowles says.
The sale means Foodstuffs will close its bottling plant at Silverstream in mid-August.
“We went to market with the idea of leasing back part of the site in order to retain the bottling plant, but in the end, the offer for the entire site made the best economic sense for our business. We have elected to outsource our bottling services to an external supplier,” Rowles says.
“There are six bottling plant roles affected by this decision and we’re looking for ways we can redeploy the affected staff within Foodstuffs,” Rowles says.
The Kiln Street site has a 17,708sqm warehouse and 5,773sqm of office space, with 167 carparks. It was marketed for sale by Bayleys Real Estate.
SOURCE: FOODSTUFFS NEW ZEALAND
Contact
Foodstuffs North Island Support Centre
Phone: +64 9 621 0600
Fax: +64 9 621 0601