Car wash site owners clean up in Belmont auction sale
190 High St, Belmont, sold for $2.925m at auction.
Washing cars is certainly proving a lucrative business – for commercial property investors that is.
A high-profile Belmont site holding a car wash has been snapped up after selling under the hammer for nearly $3m.
The 1196sq m property at 190 High St, Belmont sold for $2.925m after three bidders contested the auction.
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The property achieved a 4.78 per cent yield after Colliers agents Ben Young and Chris Nanni conducted the auction campaign.
Mr Young said a local buyer competed against investors from Melbourne and Sydney for the property, which was knocked down to a Melbourne investor after the 16th bid.
Agents call for bids at the auction at 190 High St, Belmont.
Mr Young said the property is linked to a five-year lease to Magic Hand Car Wash, which has been operating at the site since 2010.
The secure income is generated through a net passing rent of $140,000 a year.
While there are no further options, Mr Young said the door was open to future development.
“They were looking at the long-term viability of it as a car wash,” Mr Young said.
“But with the lease term it had the opportunity to redevelop the site in the future when the lease was up.”
190 High St, Belmont, sold for $2.925m at auction.
The property last traded for $550,000 in 2003, records show.
The sale comes after a neighbouring office, retail and warehouse complex at 192 High St, Belmont, sold for $1.72m.
The 1148sq m property which also offers future development opportunities was snapped after are barely a week on the market.
The last Magic Hands Car Wash site to sell was at Latrobe Tce, Newtown three years ago. The then-new car wash development sold for $2.225m, after developers had invested around $1m on the site.
190 High St, Belmont, sold for $2.925m at auction.
This site had a secure lease until 2030, with two five-year lease options available.
Geelong is Victoria’s second largest city of Victoria, where the population is expected to grow to 510,000 by 2054.
“People see the affordability of Geelong in the commercial market space from those looking at it from Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr Young said.
“People say there is growth still to come so that’s why they’re looking at these areas.
“If you get an asset that’s in a prime quarter like High St with street exposures it leads itself to know you’re going to have a pretty good tenant there.
192 High St, Belmont, sold for $1.72m in February.
“And if the tenant vacates, you’re going to get someone else there that’s going to enjoy that exposure.”
It’s the agency’s second High St sale recently, with local investors paying $680,000 for a vacant retail shop at the end of March.
The shop at 1/154 High St has a 75sq m footprint, with a glass frontage to the busy retail strip, close to Coles and Aldi supermarkets.
