COLLIERS Golden Key Bootery building, on the corner of Hargreaves Mall and Mitchell Street, is on the market for the first time in 50 years. Amid much excitement and plenty of keen interest it will go under the hammer on Friday, May 2 at 11am, onsite.
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Anticipation is building as First National's Craig Tweed gets ready for the sale.
"It's rare to secure a blue-chip investment such as this," auctioneer Craig says. "Buildings like this don't come onto the market very often and with three long-term tenants, and a net rent of $107, 882 for the site, risk to investment is very low."
Craig says it's a "massive decision" for the present owners, who bought the building in 1954-55.
The two-storey, red-brick building has stood like a sentinel on this busy city corner for 110 years.
It's been witness to some remarkable changes in Bendigo's history while hundreds of people have passed by it each day.
Commissioned by the Lansell family and designed by architect William Beebe, the building was erected around 1904, on the site of an old hotel called the Beehive.
Craig says there's great scope to convert the first floor into an office or inner-city townhouse.
Land, lots of land
The word is out, land is a 'wanted item' in 2014. Whether you have plans to subdivide your residential allotment, have a vacant inner-city handkerchief size portion, or an industrial block on the city fringes, you're in the box seat Luke Goggin's Kelvin Dows says.
Auctions
While auctions are still going gangbusters in Melbourne, Bendigo's vendors are not so keen. Buyers remain cautious and reticent to bid, attending the auction but more likely to put in an offer in the three-day period post auction.
Infill development
With Bendigo's overall population set to grow to more than 145,000 people in the next 15 years, the Greater Bendigo Residential Property Strategy predicts an additional 16,800 dwellings will be required.
Mawby Property's Andrew Murphy says while interesting suburbs are developing, it is the inner-city demand that is strongest today.
"The demand for inner-city living means infill land development is on the increase. People want to live closer to town, where the infrastructure is in place and handy," Andrew says.
A princely sum
Sometimes it matters who has lived in a house before you, other times this is not so. Fugitive and Great Train Robbery mastermind Ronnie Biggs' former house in Blackburn North sold for more than $200,000 above the expected price on Melbourne's biggest auction day this year, but the new owners didn't know much about Mr Biggs.
The three-bedroom house at 52 Hibiscus Road, where the fugitive and his family lived under assumed identities, sold under the hammer for $805,000.
After an opening bid of $600,000, five bidders pushed the sale well beyond the median house price for Blackburn North ($680,000).
But in the end, it was a young Chinese family from Balwyn who won the keys.
Dennis Sheehan of Noel Jones Real Estate said the family did not know the historical significance of the property until they arrived at the auction.
Mr Sheehan said the history of the home did generate some interest, but it was more towards the end of the campaign.
Overall, he said the auction was very successful.
"[The price] was more than we ever anticipated," he said.