Find premises
Retail
South Island, NZ
How a fuel retailer grew its South Island network on better-than-market sites
The result
$376,000
saved in occupancy costs over the lease term on a single site, off a 25% lower starting rent.
Off-market sites across the South Island, sourced and secured on more competitive terms than competitors, to extend a retail fuel network built over 70 years.
At a glance
Client
Waitomo Energy, a New Zealand fuel retailer operating since 1947
Sector
Retail (fuel)
Location
South Island, New Zealand
Service
Find premises: site selection, sourcing and leasing
The brief
Source and secure South Island sites to expand the retail network, on competitive commercial terms.
The situation
A North Island name, ready for the South Island
Waitomo had run self-service petrol stations across the North Island since 1947. They decided to expand into the South Island, to make their fuel available the length of the country, from Paihia to Dunedin.
Expanding a retail network lives or dies on the sites behind it. Waitomo needed the right locations, at the right size, on the right terms. Site selection wasn’t their core business, and the best sites are rarely the ones advertised for lease.
What was at stake
Every site sets a cost base you live with for years
The rent you agree on a site doesn’t cost you once. It sets your occupancy cost for the length of the lease, and it climbs from there at every review.
Get the starting rent wrong on one site and you overpay for years. Do it across a network rollout and the same mistake repeats, site after site.
Then there’s the cost of the sites you never see. The strongest locations in tightly held areas are often off-market, never listed. Miss them and you’re choosing from what’s advertised, usually at a premium, sometimes in the wrong spot.
For a network built over 70 years, the South Island expansion wasn’t one deal. It was the cost base for the next chapter of the business.
What we did
Find the off-market sites, qualify them, then negotiate the terms
Waitomo brought in Marcus from Proactive Property Group, a tenant-side adviser who has spent years sourcing sites and growing retail networks across New Zealand and Australia. PPG acts for tenants, not landlords. The job: secure the right South Island sites on terms that worked for Waitomo, not the vendor. Strong retail site selection comes down to getting four things right, in order:
01
Set the site brief
Worked with Waitomo to map the target South Island locations and pin down what each site needed: size, position, access and forecourt potential.
02
Source off-market
Worked a network of agents, property managers, landlords, solicitors and accountants, alongside on-the-ground site visits, to surface sites that were never publicly listed.
03
Qualify against the brief
Tested every property against the agreed brief, then shortlisted only the sites that fit for Waitomo to review and decide on.
04
Negotiate and document
Negotiated the commercial terms for each lease or purchase, then worked with Waitomo’s lawyers to lock those terms into the Agreements to Lease and acquisition contracts.
The result
Better sites than the competition, on better terms
Marcus sourced and secured sites across the South Island, several of them off-market and on more competitive terms than competitors were getting. Three stand out:
Site 1: double the size, 25% lower rent
An off-market site twice the size of the nearest competitor, secured at 25% below their initial rent.
$376,000 saved on Site 1 alone
That lower starting rent compounded into $376,000 of occupancy savings over the lease term.
Site 2: ahead of a new motorway
A site positioned for a new motorway connection, with tenancies reconfigured to open up an optimal forecourt.
Site 3: below-market rent, rural
A creative solution in a tightly held rural area secured a site at below-market rental.
Off-market access
Most sites were sourced off-market, away from the competition and the premium a public listing carries.
Built to keep growing
A South Island footprint that extends a retail network 70 years in the making.
The real money is in that starting rent. Set it 25% below the competition on one site and it doesn’t save you once. It compounds every year of the term. Across a network rollout, that same discipline repeats at every site.
If you’re expanding your network
The best sites for your next store rarely show up on a listing. They’re found through the right relationships, qualified against a clear brief, and won on terms set before anyone signs. That’s the difference between a network that grows on the right sites and one that grows on whatever was available.
About the adviser
Marcus Bosch
Marcus has spent 20 years acting for tenants across New Zealand and the East Coast of Australia — finding premises, negotiating leases and managing property costs across the full lease lifecycle. Having sat on both sides of the table as landlord and tenant, he negotiates commercial terms most tenants only sign once or twice in the life of their business.
More about Marcus and Proactive Property Group →
More proof
Related case studies
$376,000 saved growing Waitomo’s South Island fuel network
Off-market sites across the South Island, sourced and secured on more competitive terms than competitors, to extend a retail fuel network built over 70 years.
$0 in holding costs before a laundromat’s doors opened
in rent or holding costs from signing the lease to opening day, on a prime suburban site chosen to the operator’s brief.
This was finding premises. It’s one stage of our commercial lease advisory Services.
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The site you secure today sets your costs for years, and the best ones are rarely advertised. Tell me where you’re looking and I’ll tell you what’s possible, before you commit to a site.