Business

Block of downtown Auckland sold to overseas investors

11:56 am on 18 May 2018

A large block of Auckland's downtown commercial property has been sold to overseas investors.

Air New Zealand's office building is included in the sale. Photo: GMT

A group of seven office buildings beside the Wynyard Quarter near the waterfront has been sold by Goodman Property and its Singapore partner, GIC, for $635 million to investment funds run by American asset manager, Blackstone.

The portfolio is known as VXV and comprises seven low-rise office buildings. The sale requires approval from the Overseas Investment Office.

The Air New Zealand and Fonterra offices are included in the deal.

Goodman's chief executive, John Dakin, said the sale was part of its move out of office buildings into industrial property.

"This is a defining transaction for our business as it completes a repositioning programme that has established GMT [Goodman Property Trust] as the country's leading provider of high-quality industrial space."

He said the company's property holdings are now almost totally Auckland industrial sites, valued at around $2.2 billion.

The sale is expected to be completed later this year and so will not have a significant effect on Goodman's earnings or dividends for this financial year.