There’s a new face heading Bayleys’ commercial and industrial operations on the North Shore following a change in its business ownership structure.
In a return to the Shore, Daniel Henderson, who spent a decade managing the Smales Farm property precinct in Takapuna, has been appointed Bayleys North Shore Commercial General Manager.
His appointment follows the transfer of ownership of Bayleys’ North Shore commercial business to Bayleys Real Estate. It previously operated as a franchise of Bayleys Realty Group
owned by Daryl Devereux and Nick Howe-Smith.
“It’s very much a case of ‘business as usual’ for Bayleys’ clients on the Shore,” says Daryl Devereux, who remains at the agency’s Takapuna office assisting with Daniel Henderson’s transition into the leadership role.
Devereux and Howe-Smith have been with Bayleys North Shore Commercial for over 20 years. They initially worked together as sales and leasing agents, before buying a shareholding in the franchise in 2002 and then moving to full ownership.
“Like most longstanding business owners, Nick and I were looking at succession plans and discussed these with the Bayley family,” says Devereux. “Their preference, as has been the case with Bayleys’ residential operations on the Shore, was for the commercial business to come back under their direct ownership rather than be sold to another franchisee, so it’s been a very smooth transition.”
Daniel Henderson, a Devonport resident, joins Bayleys North Shore Commercial with over 25 years’ experience in the commercial property sector under his belt across a wide variety of roles. Most recently he was Property Development Manager for Auckland International Airport Limited responsible for the development and master planning of the airport’s retail, office and commercial precincts.
Prior to that he was General Manager and Executive Director of Smales Farm Corporate Services from 2006 to 2016, responsible for all aspects of the Takapuna-based Smales Farm property business and joint ventures. He is also a director of Alandale Retirement Village and the New Zealand Green Building Council.
“We are fortunate to have secured someone of Daniel’s calibre and experience to lead our operations on the North Shore,” says Ryan Johnson, Bayleys National Director Commercial and Industrial. “In particular, the knowledge and contacts he has built up on the Shore from his decade at Smales Farm will be invaluable in continuing to grow our operations in this large and important commercial property market.
“Daniel will be looking to build on the high profile that Bayleys already has on the North Shore thanks to the hard work of Daryl and Nick. They have developed a very good multicultural team of 30 agents who have a strong presence across both the sales and leasing markets.”
Nick Howe-Smith says the increasing ethnic diversity of the North Shore’s population has been one of the most noticeable changes in the 22 years since he emigrated here having worked as a chartered surveyor (the English equivalent of a valuer, property manager and/or real estate agent) in the UK.
“The North Shore has long been a popular destination for UK settlers but more recently there have been growing numbers of South African, European and particularly South East Asian immigrants settling here and we’ve had to adapt to cater for their requirements. Accordingly, we’ve brought another dimension of service and expertise to the market which has included establishing an international team with agents fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean.
“Now around one in three transactions involves a member of our international team acting for the purchaser and/or the buyer.”
Howe-Smith joined Bayleys North Shore Commercial when it opened a franchise office on the Shore in 1997 under the leadership of John Algie. “We only had five sales agents at that stage, including John, so one of the highlights for me over the past two decades has been seeing our people and operations grow and develop in what is a very competitive commercial property market here on the Shore.”
He believes establishing a variety of sales and leasing teams has been one of the key factors behind the growth and success of Bayleys North Shore Commercial. As well as the international team, there are teams focusing on the industrial, retail and office sectors plus an investment sales division.
“Agents seem to work best in small teams and they develop a depth of knowledge and expertise in the market sectors and locations that they specialise in to the point where longstanding clients often view them as trusted advisers.”
For Devereux a big highlight in recent years has involved challenging major zoning changes in the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP). He drew property owners’ attention to the proposed “down zoning” of the Barrys Point Road and Wairau Valley precincts to Light Industry under the plan from their more flexible North Shore District Plan Business 9 zoning.
He then convened meetings with both landowners and
tenants and helped coordinate and provide administration support at no charge for action groups established to fight the proposed zoning changes.
Property owners’ collectives, comprising 170 commercial landlords in the Wairau Valley and 70 along Barrys Point Road, joined forces to fund a team of expert consultants and spent nearly four years challenging the proposed zoning changes.
Devereux described the long process involved in successfully securing changes to the PAUP as a classic “David and Goliath” battle between small groups of persistent property owners and a large bureaucracy with very fixed planning views.
Commercial property owners in the Barrys Point precinct had complete success, with the Independent Hearings Panel established to review the PAUP recommending that their proposed Light Industry zoning be changed to Business - Mixed Use, which was accepted by Auckland Council.
Wairau Valley property owners weren’t quite as successful in their endeavours to get their Light Industry zoning changed to General Business, to align with the neighbouring Link Drive bulk retail precinct. However, an Identified Growth Corridor Overlay zoning along both sides of Wairau Road, allows for a much wider range of activities than is possible under a Light Industry zoning and the council also agreed that under certain circumstances retail and office activity could occur across all business zones, and was no longer restricted to just the centre zones.
“Taking a proactive leadership role in a business community initiative like this was an important way of giving something back to our clients and meant we established even stronger relationships with owners in those precincts,” says Devereux.
He also points to the relocation of Bayleys North Shore Commercial’s premises to a standalone building at 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, in a high profile corner position at the intersection with Burns and Auburn Streets, as another highlight.
Known previously as the BDO building, the property was purchased five years ago and approximately $500,000 was spent on refurbishing and upgrading the building. “We replaced an ugly looking verandah-style entranceway with a much more modern looking glass canopy which made a big difference to the appearance of the building. We also modernised the ground floor area which provided a great light-filled working environment for our team with room for future expansion.”
Daryl Devereux says he will continue to work as a broker for Bayleys North Shore Commercial. The biggest thing Nick Howe-Smith has on his calendar at this stage is a 1000 kilometre coastal walk with friends between Devon and Cornwall in May and June.
“Nick and I have enjoyed a great partnership based on mutual trust and respect and have been proud to have played a small part in Bayleys’ phenomenal growth across New Zealand over the past 20 years or so,” says Devereux. “Now we’re passing on the baton to Daniel and the rest of the team to continue to drive the business onwards and upwards in the years ahead.”
Bayleys North Shore Commercial
Devereux Howe-Smith Realty Limited, Bayleys, Licensed under the REA Act 2008
D +64 9 489 0999 | F +64 9 489 0990
29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622
