$3m Geelong office offer too good to refuse

A global technology firm’s local base was the key feature of a Geelong CBD building that’s been sold after a bold pre-auction raid by a local family.

The two-storey office complex at 44-46 Lt Ryrie St, Geelong, has been home to the local branch of NCR, a US-based global leader in consumer transaction technology, since the building was erected in the early 1990s.

Buyer interest in the property was expected to be in the low to mid $2 million range, but the Advertiser understands the offer accepted by the vendor ahead of the auction was closer to $3 million.

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The property last traded in 2015 for $2.055 million, CoreLogic records show.

Darcy Jarman, Geelong agent Tim Darcy says the strong offer came three weeks before the property was due to be auctioned on May 31.

44-46 Little Ryrie St, Geelong, is opposite the Little Ryrie St car park.

“They’re a local family with a connection to the Western District that have got interests in the farming, food production and livestock industries,” Darcy says.

He said the purchase was a passive investment for the buyers, unlocking the long-term recurrent income stream from the triple-net rent.

The investment is underpinned by the long lease to NCR, which builds ATM and point of sale technology.

The tenants have just signed a new five-plus-five-year lease, worth about $138,000, he said. The triple-net rent also covered outgoings and land tax.

Darcy says it is virtually a brand-new building, courtesy of a recent upgrade that replaced all plant and equipment and repainted.

The property has three street frontages.

“There is nothing to do. They’ve spend quite a bit of money on the fit-out a number of years ago, so you’d basically be buying a brand-new building with a tenant that’s had a long successful history with the building.”

Darcy says the property also offers a significant upside due to its triple street frontage and position opposite the Lt Ryrie St public carpark and 150m from St John of God hospital and its Activity Centre zone.

“It’s a good a quality investment as you could find in the Geelong market,” he says.

This article from the Geelong Advertiser originally appeared as “Buyer makes early raid to secure a global tech firm’s Geelong base”.