Locally-founded Waitomo Group signed as first retail tenant at Ruakura Superhub
Tuesday, 1 June 2021
Waitomo Group has been confirmed as the first retail and service tenant of the superhub development taking shape in Hamilton’s eastern fringe.
The Waikato-based fuel company will lease a 1.6 hectare site at Tainui Group Holdings’ (TGH) Ruakura Superhub.
The superhub is a logistics, industrial, retail and residential development which has been recognised by the Government as a project of national significance.
Waitomo Group managing director Jimmy Ormsby told Stuff he is proud the Te Kūiti-founded business is the first retail tenant in the major development.
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The business had to bring its “A game' to secure a long-term lease at the site, facing strong opposition from other companies.
Waitomo Group will run a full-service flagship Waitomo Fuel Stop at the superhub, accessible from the Waikato Expressway via the Ruakura Interchange.
The site will also offer hydrogen refuelling, EV charging stations, commercial truck refuelling lanes, a touch-free carwash, two fast-food restaurants, a café and a convenience store.
“This will be a major off-highway services location. It will be the equivalent to what we see at Bombay, Taupiri and the like,” Ormsby said.
“It will be servicing all the businesses and operations and the people that work there.”
The fast-food businesses at the fuel stop are yet to be confirmed.
Construction will happen in the latter part of 2021, with the site set to open by mid-2022.
TGH chief executive Chris Joblin said he was “pleased and excited” a local company has joined the superhub development.
The entire service centre will cover about 4 hectares. Confirmation of the new service centre tenant adds to the momentum around the Ruakura Superhub, he said.
“It is great to see a locally-founded company take advantage of the opportunities provided by Ruakura and to deliver the kind of excellent experiences we aspire to provide,” Joblin said in a statement.
“With almost 75 years on the clock, we are confident they know and understand locals and visitors to our region.”
Ormsby said the partnership between Waitomo Group and TGH proves local businesses are important to the development.
Waitomo Group was founded in Te Kūiti in 1947 and is owned and managed by the third generation of the Ormsby family.
It now operates more than 80 fuel and diesel stops nationally from Paihia to Dunedin.
Freight operator PBT was signed on as the superhub’s first commercial tenant in December 2020, leasing 10,000 square metres.
Extensive earthworks, construction of local connecting roads, infrastructure and other leasing negotiations are currently underway across the first 92-hectare stage of the site.
Once complete, the superhub will add about 8 per cent of urban and industrial land area to Hamilton, accommodating 6000-12000 jobs.
Joblin previously told Stuff the development is located at an emerging “sweet spot” for New Zealand’s supply chain.
The inland port will be serviced by the East Coast main trunk rail line and the soon-to-be-completed Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway.
Initially, rail services will be provided by the existing MetroPort trains running between Auckland and Tauranga.
Last week, Finance Minister Grant Robertson visited the superhub site and said it was an example of Waikato’s thriving economy post-Covid-19 lockdown.
“I think the Waikato economy is booming. I’m seeing construction, both vertical and horizontal, I’m seeing good community development as well, and I think Ruakura kind of symbolises that,” he said.
“You’ve got the inland port that’s going to be significant for New Zealand, you’ve got the development of housing which is also part of the site which is just so critical for us.”