Developers sign off on $3.5m Clayton church

Buyers have seen the light in Clayton, with a church selling under the hammer for $3.5 million.

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Monash at 1494-1496 North Rd sold for the low point of its $3.5-$3.85 million price guide at the August 17 auction.

It was Melbourne’s third highest reported auction sale for the week and Clayton’s biggest sale for 2019, according to CoreLogic.

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Five bidders made up of local developers and a church group vied for the 1576sq m property, with a developer submitting the winning bid.

The church at 1494-1496 North Rd sold for $3.5 million.

Century 21 Clayton agent Irene Karamaloudis says the auction was made difficult by developer tactics and the number of vendors involved in the decision.

“As usual when you’ve got so many developers there’s no emotion, everybody’s just standing there,” Karamaloudis says “Eventually they realised if someone didn’t start we’d be there all day and night.”

“The vendors were a group of people, so you’ve got to give them a chance to talk between themselves and decide.”

The church at 1494-1496 North Rd sold for $3.5 million.

An opening bid of $3 million finally got the auction underway, but “it was like pulling hen’s teeth after that”, Karamaloudis says.

She is unsure what the vendor’s plans will be for the unusual listing.

“I’m assuming it will be for either apartments or terraces, the position warrants that, so close to the university and hospital,” Karamaloudis says.

The church at 1494-1496 North Rd sold for $3.5 million.

“It was my first church sale, now I’ve got to go and find another one, because we’ve got church groups looking. I’ve got to go doorknocking at churches now — I’ve never done that before.”

Karamaloudis says the vendors were grateful that she had not pushed them to make a decision or pried into their future plans.

This article from Leader Newspapers originally appeared as “Developers anoint Clayton Christian Science church with year’s biggest local sale”.