Melbourne CBD gym muscles up reserve by $1m-plus

The sale of a ground floor gym in Melbourne CBD has torn through its reserve by more than 20%, selling amid heated auction competition from six bidders.

The auction for the 369sqm space at 1/199 William St saw 47 bids come thick and fast after an opening salvo of $3 million, before an international buyer landed the knockout offer of $5.05 million.

The final sale price represented a strong yield of 4.72%, with a building rate of $13,686 per square metre.

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CBRE’s Max Ruttner, Alex Brierley and Leon Ma conducted the marketing campaign on behalf of Melbourne-based developer Hengyi.

“It was clear the registered parties were keen to capitalise on the anticipated growth for the western end of the CBD,” Ruttner says.

“The auction price quickly escalated from $3 million to $3.7 million within the first few bids and eventually sold to the Chinese investor for $1.15 million over our vendor’s reserve.”