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Tainui Group Holdings
Annual Report
2012
Stage 3A opened in April, and Stages 3B and 4 opened
in August, featuring the new
cinema complex
and the worldwide premiere of Billy T: Te Movie.
A major challenge for us with Stage 3A and 3B of
was securing tenants in a subdued retail
market. The February Christchurch earthquake and
Queensland foods also affected the process, with
some potential tenants’ decisions unavoidably delayed
because of these events.
TGH’s property team however made a huge effort,
and while Stages 3A and 3B were not 100% tenanted
on opening day, we did achieve this milestone shortly
thereafter.
Completion of
was the right strategic
decision for TGH, just as locating there was the right
one for the new mall’s tenants.
When we were planning
we undertook
a careful study of who its customers would be: the
312,000 people in the Waikato region, of which 60%
were resident outside of Hamilton City. We also knew
there was leakage to comparable malls in Auckland
and Tauranga, because there was little in Hamilton to
compete with them. While we had large format retail
at The Base, specialty retail, especially fashion and
complementary stores, was the value proposition for
.
That approach has been validated by customer
patronage. On Boxing Day 2010, for example, 23,000
people visited
. A year later, on Boxing Day
2011, 41,000 did so. And in mid-March 2012, a normal
trading Saturday, 20,000 came to the mall.
Apart from the numbers,
has undoubtably
broadened the range of customers coming to The
Base, and has reinforced our property diversifcation
strategy, this time within the retail space.
hotel
The 263-bed, four and a half star
was offcially opened on Friday 27 May by
Kiingi Tuheitia and the Prime Minister, John Key, in a
dawn ceremony.
With just 100 days out from the start of the Rugby
World Cup, the hotel was able to capitalise on that
event, and since then has maintained consistently
good occupancy and rates.
It has certainly met our expectations, as well as
that of customers, who have provided very positive
feedback. The hotel is located 20 metres from the
international terminal, and so is well placed to offer
accommodation for international travellers arriving
late in the evening or departing early morning.
The hotel’s restaurant, conference and meeting
facilities are also being well utilised, given that the
area has been short of such amenities.
The $65 million project was developed by a joint
venture comprising ourselves,
and
who operate the hotel.
handles over 13 million passengers
annually, projected to grow to 24 million by 2025, with
more than 70% of all international visitors to New
Zealand arriving or departing from Auckland.
The hotel therefore meets all our criteria for a high
quality, long term investment.
The Base