A New Plymouth store at the heart of a stoush between New Zealand’s two supermarket giants has been sold.
The former Woolworths supermarket, on the corner of Wallath Rd and Tukapa St, was sold on Friday.
New Plymouth real estate agent Robert Angus was in charge of the sale and said bids for the property closed last Wednesday after it had been on the market for about a month.
“There was a good groundswell of interest in the property,” he said.
He said the land, coupled with the buildings and carparking spaces, made it an attractive package for the buyer and the sale process had generated a lot of interest.
However, he would not say who had bought the property or how much had been paid for it.
The site has been surrounded in controversy since 2008, after Foodstuffs won a legal battle in the High Court to effectively kick Progressive Enterprises, the brand behind the Countdown supermarket chain, out.
From 1982, Progressive had operated the Woolworths store from the site but the property was purchased by rival retailer Foodstuffs in 2008.
What followed was a protracted legal battle over the rights to the land that was ultimately won by Foodstuffs.
In a High Court decision, Foodstuffs was granted the right to get rid of Progressive from the site when its lease came to and end in July 2012, so it could build its own New World supermarket.
But Progressive shut the doors on Westown Woolworths in May 2011 instead so it could build a Countdown supermarket in Spotswood. This was met by outrage by Foodstuffs management, who alleged they were blindsided by the move.
Despite Foodstuffs plans to use the site for a New World supermarket, which was proposed to be opened by the end of 2013, construction never eventuated. No explanation was given for the change in plans by the company.
The site has been vacant since Progressive moved out in 2011.
The Wallath Rd site has a captial value of $2.21 million and includes 6818 square metres of freehold land, 1760 square metres of building space and 80 carparks.
On Angus’ website, the land was pitched as ideal for either subdivision, re-development or an investment.
Angus said the new owner was due to take over possession at the end of October.
In June this year, Countdown opened its fourth supermarket in the city in Vogeltown.
– Stuff