The former ANZ central city branch building in Tauranga is now on the market for sale.

The Spring Street premises were vacated by the ANZ earlier this year when the bank moved its retail operations to the former National Bank premises on the corner of Grey and Spring The bank is still paying annual rent of $254,000 + GST on the Spring Street location.

Banking on new owners – the former Tauranga central city branch of the ANZ is up for sale.

With guaranteed income through until July 2016, the building's owners have placed the vacant property on the market for sale through a tender process with Bayleys Tauranga.

The two-storey building sits on 877sqm of commercially-zoned land and comes with 31 car parks underneath the building and to the rear of the premises.

Bayleys Tauranga salesperson Brendon Bradley said the 393 square metre ground floor premises included an open plan reception area with six adjoining partitioned offices.

He says the property would suit a tertiary education, retail, hospitality or professional services tenancy.

As a unique design feature, the building's interior features the thick solid steel walk-in safe formerly used by the bank for cash and valuable storage.

'The building has access to a substantial security-controlled car parking space underneath, with an internal staircase to the two levels above.

'Additionally, there is a concrete ramp at the front door for wheelchair-bound clients, and the benefit of metered parking immediately outside on Spring Street plus a public car parking lot with 290 spaces just 100m away.

Brendon says the floor plan of the 381sqm upper level is configured with a reception area, two meeting rooms, and a large open-plan office scape, along with staff lunchroom and toilet amenities.

'With holding income guaranteed through until July 2016, the intervening period would allow any new owner an ample timeframe to acquire the necessary development consents for refurbishment into a new format if required and to source new tenants.”

The concrete-framed freehold building, built in 1989, is rated A-grade under the National Building Standards and has a steel framed roof.

Tenders for the property close on October 1.

'Proximity to the heart of the city and high visibility on a corner location on one of the city's busiest routes are an obvious draw-cards for any business motivated by location,” says Brendon.

'From that perspective, the A-grade building rating would make the property suitable for occupancy by a Government agency, or a consultancy-based business such as an accountancy firm, design and engineering practice, or the likes of a media or creative agency.

'The uniform shape of the building and its relatively modular interior fit-out mean the offices as they are currently can be reconfigured relatively easily to bigger dimensions.”

Brendon believes the building could potentially be developed as a ‘boutique' ancillary location to the Waikato University/Bay of Plenty Polytechnic campus, starting in central Tauranga next year.

A benefit/cost analysis of the burgeoning Bay of Plenty campus forecasts about 6500 students will begin studies in Tauranga between 2015 and 2035.

'As the campus beds in and then expands as predicted, the university could well begin looking for smaller centres operating as satellite learning sites in close proximity to the main CBD campus headquarters,” he says.

'The university chose a central city location to establish its campus for three main reasons – availability of premises, accessibility to public transport bus routes, and proximity to social infrastructure such as retail and hospitality outlets.

'The Spring Street former bank site mirrors all of those pre-requisites, along with the added bonus of having its own on-site parking underneath.

'It would be fairly straightforward to combine two or three offices into one informal sized classroom, or keep the offices as they are for smaller tutorial style rooms.”