Maersk’s Hamilton coolstore beat thirteen contenders to take out the Excellence and Best in Category CBRE Industrial Property Award at the Property  Council of New Zealand’s prestigious annual awards on Friday June 14. 

The 18,000 sqm integrated cold chain facility at the Ruakura Superhub opened earlier this year and represents the Copenhagen-headquartered Maersk’s largest investment in New Zealand infrastructure, with about NZD $140-150 million invested in the site. 

Andrew Evans, the chief judge of the awards body, said the new facility is having a massive  impact on productivity. 

“Overall, it means taking approximately 6,000 trucks a year off the road. The site can send freight directly to a ship in either Auckland or Tauranga via the inland port, via rail or via road.” 

“This building has so many carefully thought out, sustainable elements to it, following the  trend of putting sustainability at the heart of local property development.” 

The judging criteria included economic and financial, project vision and innovation including degree of difficulty, design and construction, owner and user satisfaction, and sustainability and efficiency of operation. 

The Maersk coolstore provides storage for 21,000 pallets of frozen and chilled products and counts New Zealand’s largest dairy company Fonterra as a tenant.  

Maersk partnered with Apollo Projects on the facility’s design and construction and TMX  Transform for property advisory and end-to-end project management.  

“TMX played a critical role in the Hamilton new build from the outset. From managing design  specifications and contractor engagement through to project delivery, all aspects of the  program were on schedule and within budget. Driving the program to achieve the best outcome  and to satisfy our customers was prioritised by TMX from the start,” Robert McLeod, Regional  Head of Cold Chain Logistics for Asia Pacific at Maersk, said earlier this year.  

The Property Council New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industrial Awards recognise excellence in property projects, developments, and refurbishments across New Zealand.