MAERSK’S new cold chain facility at the Ruakura Superhub took out the CBRE Industrial Property Award last week at New Zealand’s 2024 Property Industry Awards.

The Maersk Hamilton Cold Store, launched this year, sits on a 4.5-hectare site adjacent to the Ruakura Inland Port, with freight links to the ports of Tauranga and Auckland.  

The Property Council of New Zealand said Maersk Logistics New Zealand’s intention was “to build a sustainable facility to service the area and further deliver on its ambition of net zero across its business by 2040”.

The 18,000-square-metre facility has capacity for more than 21,000 pallets of cold chain products, and the fully convertible temperature-controlled space can handle temperatures ranging from -25°C to 15°C.

Maersk customers, including Fonterra and Alliance Meatworks, are now able to deliver their goods directly to the facility where they are maintained in the cold chain or blast frozen, ready for export.

Property Industry Awards chief judge Andrew Evans said the new facility would have “a massive impact” on productivity.

“The site can send freight directly to a ship in either Auckland or Tauranga via the inland port, via rail or via road,” he said.

“Overall, it means taking approximately 6000 trucks a year off the road.”

NZ construction company Apollo Projects built the facility to maximise sustainability and target the highest-possible “green star” rating of six stars.

The property council said Maersk was careful to meet – and exceed – high environmental standards outlined in the Ruakura Superhub Guidelines.

“As judges we are delighted to see that even though this building isn’t in the Resene Sustainable Building Property Award category, it has so many carefully thought out, sustainable elements to it, following the trend of putting sustainability at the heart of local property development,” Mr Evans said.

“This can only be good for the industry and our country.”

Now in their 34th year, the Property Industry Awards celebrate excellence in design and innovation in the built environment.

Other winners in the industrial property category were Cardinal Drury Automated Warehouse, Mainfreight Favona and Tāwharau Lane, which received excellence awards.

Other awards categories covered affordable housing, office properties, living and aged care facilities and sustainable building.