Insights
Auckland commercial property insights
The thinking, written down. Articles are open — read them here. Notes are longer, written from the frameworks we use on live mandates, and sent on request.
Notes · sent on request
The longer pieces
Written from the frameworks we use on live mandates, on the questions that decide what a deal is actually worth. Tell us where to send it and we will.
Note · Transactions and tax
Purchase price allocation
How the allocation rules work on a commercial acquisition, a worked example showing what one purchase price is worth under four different allocations, and the fifteen questions to put to your valuer, accountant and solicitor before you go unconditional.
New notes go up as the questions come up in the work. If there is a topic you would like covered, tell us what it is.
Articles · open
Analysis on leasing, development, transactions and the rules that move them
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Splitting the banners won’t do it
A banner split leaves the same three bidders chasing the same short list of sites, and the wholesale and private-label structure untouched. The harder separation is…
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Who handles make-good negotiations on Auckland commercial leases?
Make-good in Auckland is negotiated by tenant advisers, property lawyers, quantity surveyors or building surveyors — and independence is a fee-structure test, not a job title.
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Soft ratchet, hard ratchet, no ratchet: which floor is in your lease?
A ratchet is not a type of rent review. It is a floor bolted onto one, and the Seventh Edition turned it into a box you…
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Warm shell or cold shell: what your rent review is really pricing
Two tenancies at the same dollars per square metre can be completely different deals. The difference is what the landlord handed over on day one.
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Calderbank offers: where to pitch, when to send, and when they do nothing at all
A Calderbank offer bites on costs. The forum decides whether it bites at all — then timing, sequence and a hard deadline do the rest of…
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How to challenge a market rent review on an Auckland lease
Either party can start a market rent review, there are three deadlines not one, and the ADLS form says less about the valuation basis than you…
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Arbitration or expert determination: which one can you appeal?
Most people assume arbitration is the final route and expert determination is the soft one. On finality it is the other way round, and on the…
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%NBS dies in late 2026. Your lease clauses don’t.
Auckland is being written out of the EPB regime. The seismic clauses in your leases aren’t. Here’s what to fix before late 2026.
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Face rent vs effective rent: why the gap widens
Face and effective rent start close. They drift apart fastest at the end of a long lease — and the renewal floor is always face, not…
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Face rent is the wrong number
Face rent is the cover-sheet number. Effective rent is the only number that survives the next renewal.
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Lease renewal, lease extension, break clause – three words that aren’t synonyms
Three lease mechanisms most NZ tenants and landlords confuse. Here’s the legal difference, why it matters commercially, and the PLA 2007 relief most tenants don’t know…
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A Data-Driven Approach to Commercial Property Decisions in Auckland & NZ
Data-driven strategies for smarter commercial property decisions across Auckland and New Zealand.
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