The build to rent Resido apartments are welcoming tenants in Mt Wellington. Photo: Kiwi Property
Residents living at the Resido apartment complex near Auckland's Sylvia Park have prioritised having access to their own carpark.
The Kiwi Property Group's first build to rent project in Auckland's Mt Wellington with 295 pet-friendly apartments near the country's largest shopping centre was planned with easy links to public transport options nearby.
However, despite its accessibility to the city's train network through the Eastern Line, the company is finding renters are prioritising having their own carpark.
That means the Kiwi Property Group is setting aside parks at the Sylvia Park Mall to tie to tenancies.
The complex which opened in May has a range of apartment sizes up to three bedrooms with communal spaces such as a roof top barbecue area and a 24 hour gym exclusively for residents.
So far around half of the apartments are leased with one bedroom and studio apartments proving the most popular.
Kiwi Property's chief executive Clive McKenzie said studio and one-bed apartments had been well received at Resido and he anticipates the two and three bed offerings will be more attractive as the economy improves.
Actual rents achieved to date are around 12 percent below the low end of prior asking rents, according to one Forsyth Barr analyst.
And Kiwi Property said it's still learning about what the optimal mix of different sized apartments might be.
"You can see that the leases are skewed towards one-beds and studios and perhaps if we were doing it slightly differently we would upweight them a bit more," Clive McKenzie said.
"We always knew we had the carpark facilities of the shopping centre [Sylvia Park] available and we're tapping into those at the moment."
"That was a risk factor and we had a mitigate for it and we're using that at the moment.""
Clive McKenzie said it would continue to stick with its pets policy which is proving popular.
Kiwi Property turns a profit in rebound result
Kiwi Property Group has swung back into profit as it shows resilience in tough economic conditions.
The large diversified property investor has reported a net profit of $43.2 million for the six months ended September, which is a significant improvement on the year earlier loss of $36 million.
The 218 percent increase in net profit after tax from a year ago reflected increased rental growth and a 20 percent reduction in employment and administration expenses.
Net rental income rose by 7 percent, while operating profit before tax increased 7.7 percent, with falling interest rates lifting downward pressure.
Key numbers for the six months ended September compared with a year ago:
- Net profit $43.2 vs $36.5m loss (+ 218.4 percent)
- Revenue $128.4m vs $117.7m (+ 9 percent)
- Operating profit before tax $56.4m vs $52.4m
- Interim dividend 2.7 cents a share vs 2.85 cents (-5.3 percent)
[Ll] Net rental income $95.3m (+ 7 percent)
Kiwi Property Group chief executive Clive McKenzie said the value of the company's portfolio rose a couple of hundred million dollars to $3.3 billion.
He said valuations appear to have stabilised and occupancy across its rental portfolio have remained resilient during the economic cycle.
"Importantly, as the interest rate cycle begins to unwind and lift downward pressure, we are also seeing a stabilisation of Kiwi Property asset valuations that is reflected in the 1H25 results," Clive McKenzie said.
"Our expectation is that in creating a high-quality asset base with good transport connectivity, we will get stronger valuation and rental uplift over time."
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