Foodstuffs' old Papanui Warehouse is being sold off to up to five businesses.

The supermarket company has outgrown the 17,000 square meter building, and is moving its distribution facility to Hornby.

Bay View property has purchased the building and has plans to subdivide it into five separate smaller warehouses.

Leasing agent Stewart White says while many of the city's warehouses were being built in Wigram, Hornby and Rolleston where land is more abundant, the Papanui site is one of the biggest close to the CBD.