May 16, 2016
Tainui keeps half Base
Waikato-Tainui isn’t ready to sell all of its flagship investment.
Last month it sold 50 percent of The Base shopping centre at the northern edge of Hamilton for $192.5 million to. Kiwi Property.
The listed property company said it was willing to spend another $200 million to get 100 percent.
But Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai, the chair of Te Whakakitenga o Waikato, says after listening to its members the tribal authority decided to hang on to the other half.
She says members are proud of the tribe’s development of such a quality shopping centre.
Kiwi Property has secured a 120 year lease on the land, and has committed to preserve the unique Waikato-Tainui cultural elements within the shopping centre such as pou and bilingual signage.
The tribe has also set aside a hectare with an option over another half hectare for a future development.
Tainui Group Holdings chair Sir Henry van der Heyden says Kiwi Property has the extensive expertise and relationships with potential new tenants to help take The Base to the next level.
He says the deal frees up significant capital that TGH will use to reduce debt and diversify into other types of investments.
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