Wellington's Forsyth Barr & Bayleys Towers sold for NZ$50.5 million

The Forsyth Barr & Bayleys Towers on Wellington’s Golden Mile retail strip have been sold to private investment company Robt Jones Holdings (RJH) for NZ$50.5 million (A$39.67 million).

The acquisition consists of three buildings situated at 165-77 Lambton Quay – two 22-level office towers and ground floor podium building housing Wellington’s most well-known department store Kirkcaldie & Stains.

Kirkcaldie & Stains is one of New Zealand’s oldest businesses and is the country’s largest locally owned department store, occupying 6,617 square metres of space.

The combined office space in the two towers is more than 9,500 square metres.

The three properties bring in initial annual net income of NZ$4.4 million, equating to a yield of around 8.8%.

The sale campaign was led by CBRE’s Ryan Johnson, Brent McGregor and Mark Hansen, which attracted six offers from investment groups based in Wellington and Auckland.

RJH Wellington manager Sam Cooper says the purchase reflects the company’s positive attitude towards Wellington and the city’s future prospects.

“The recent, heavily published suggestion that Wellington is in danger of becoming an economic backwater struck us as silly in the extreme,” he says.

“It is certainly inconsistent with our own experience as the CBD’s largest building owner given the steady demand we encounter for quality office space.”