Geelong West warehouse smashes reserve by $1m-plus
A Geelong West warehouse has smashed its auction reserve price by more than $1 million, showing the level of confidence in the commercial property market.
The 1566sq m warehouse at 46 Gordon Ave sold at auction for $4.05 million after three local buyers competed for the contract.
The complex had been home to electrical goods wholesaler AWM until recently when the business relocated to Moolap.
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Maxwell Collins, Geelong selling agent Paul Whyte says three buyers made close to 30 bids before the hammer was brought down on the property.
Whyte says bidding opened at $2.5 million, with two of the trio doing most of the work before the underbidder dropped out at $4 million.
42-46 Gordon Ave, Geelong West.
He says local business people had secured the property, though he is uncertain of their plans for the property.
The warehouse provided owner-occupiers, investors and potential developers an angle on a busy Geelong West commercial strip.
“Some buyers were looking to develop it, whether it was for office space or retail, some were looking to buy it as an investment and lease it out so there was a pretty broad spectrum there,” Whyte says.
42-46 Gordon Ave, Geelong West.
“We had a fair bit of interest in it — 23 or 24 inquiries throughout the four-week campaign, which was pretty healthy, and seven or eight inspections, so it was a pretty popular campaign.”
Whyte says he knew at least two of the buyers were keen and hoped the auction process would draw them out.
“Two parties that really wanted it and competed to the end.”
It was the third big commercial auction in as many weeks in Geelong’s inner suburbs.
42-46 Gordon Ave, Geelong West.
Geelong investors paid $1.46 million for the Commonwealth Bank’s former Garden St, East Geelong branch after outbidding three other parties at a hot lunchtime auction. It sold $360,000 over the reserve.
An investor paid $3.21 million for the 382sqm freehold property at 196-198 Pakington St, Geelong West, which is home to Murphy’s Newsagency — the biggest price paid for a single retail tenancy in the heart of the retail strip between Hope and Weller streets.
This article from the Geelong Advertiser originally appeared as “Geelong West warehouse near Pako smashes reserve by $1M”.
