Foodstuffs North Island has announced the purchase of the well-established Highland Park Shopping Centre, with a view to eventually bringing a new shopping option to the high growth east Auckland area.
The centre will be redeveloped over time. The redevelopment will be designed to accommodate existing retailers and to ultimately include a PAK’nSAVE supermarket. The co-operative believes the proposed redevelopment will offer locals the opportunity to enjoy New Zealand’s lowest food prices.
The current owner Highland Centre Limited has owned the Highland Park Shopping Centre for 20 years. Over this time, they have come to know many of their tenants personally, as such, the decision to sell was given a great deal of thought, supermarket.news.co.nz reported today.
The website reported: “After all these years we are pleased to be able to sell to a 100 per cent New Zealand owned company which is committed to providing a valuable service to the Highland Park and wider East Auckland community,” said Mark Townsend, director, Highland Centre Limited.
“The purchase is an exciting milestone for the Co-operative,” said Lindsay Rowles, Foodstuffs North Island General Manager, Property Development. “While we are still very much in the planning and evaluation stage, we are considering adding a PAK’nSAVE to the Highland Park and wider Eastern Bays area, which ultimately means we are able to offer customers more choice. The details are still to be worked through. Our focus right now is on working with the existing tenants to ensure they have all the information they need as the redevelopment begins to take shape.”
The rights and interests of existing tenants will be taken into account, including the Countdown supermarket in the Centre which is not directly affected by the current redevelopment proposal, supermarket.news.co.nz said.
Colliers has been appointed by Foodstuffs North Island as the managing agent for the Highland Park Shopping Centre. They are handling the process on behalf of Foodstuffs and are responsible for all property, facilities and marketing management associated with the site.
“We know the news that Foodstuffs has purchased the Shopping Centre could mean uncertainty for its current tenants, and we are very mindful of this”, said Rowles.
“The Foodstuff team wants all tenants, some of whom have been here for many years, to feel supported and, with Colliers, are endeavouring to make this process as seamless as possible.”
