Sydney auctions: Retired substation sells for double the expected price
Auctioneer Damien Cooley drops the hammer on a retired substation in Waterloo. Picture Thomas Lisson
A former electrical substation in Waterloo with potential to be converted into a residence or café has sold at auction for more than double the expected price.
The unique property on Young St was expected to sell in the vicinity of $1m, which was the reserve. It instead sold for $2.05m. A dozen bidders registered for the sale.
Much of the interest was from restaurant and café operators who spied an opportunity to transform the property into a unique food and beverage outlet in what’s set to be a high density area.
The surrounding land is slated for a major development and will be home to a high concentration of high-rise apartments.
MORE: $100k nosedive: home prices fall in half of Sydney
There were a dozen registered bidders. Picture Thomas Lisson
MORE: Shock landlord payslips bust big housing myth
The eventual buyer was the company Dasco, the developer tasked with building the surrounding housing community.
“It’s the missing link in the puzzle for them in some ways,” said Colliers director Michael Crombie, one of the agents who conducted the sale.
“The whole precinct will be built up with thousands of apartments but this will remain the only freehold. It will likely end up as food or beverage, fulfilling the amenities for the precinct.”
Auctioneer Damien Cooley, the director of auction group Cooley, said the sale price was something of surprise. The selling team had expected a price only marginally above $1m, he said.
MORE: Home trick nets dad extra $426k a year
“The opening bid was already at the reserve,” he said. “It has the potential to be an iconic building and was always going to be difficult to value but this well above what we expected.”
Justin Rosenberg, also part of the team who sold the property, said the seller Ausgrid had not used the site as a substation for decades.
He told The Sunday Telegraph prior to the auction: “There are a lot of bits and pieces to navigate. Some of the interest has come from those wanting to turn it into residential but there’s also been buyers with creative visions for it. It’s a really unique sale.”
The Young St site will be surrounded by high-rise units.
The interior of the old substation.
Another commercial site, located in Paddington, sold earlier in the morning for $4.65m – about $800,000 above expectations.
The property on William St could be used for both retail and residential, according to selling agent Dimitrios Franze of IB Property. Five bidders registered.
