Double Bay cements itself as hottest commercial market in Australia with $25.5m auction sale
33 New South Head Road, Double Bay, has sold for $25.5m under the hammer, a new auction record for the suburb.
Just two months after Aussie John Symond paid $21m, Double Bay’s auction record has been smashed again.
A commercial site owned by the cinema company Greater Union Organisation at 377 New South Head Road sold under the hammer for $25.5m yesterday, which commentators believe is a further sign the suburb is regaining the status it enjoyed in its heyday of the 70s and 80s.
And it was just 10 days after The Intercontinental Hotel Double Bay sold for circa $180m to an apartment developer.
RELATED:Intercontinental sells for $180m
“Double Bay is the most exciting market in Australia currently … a lot of people have a vision of what it should be,” says Matt Pontey of Colliers International, who sold the site with national director Miron Solomons and co-agent Grant Whiteman of Ray White Commercial.
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Auctioneer Damien Cooley had three bidders competing.
A mural decorates one of the walls of an outdoor lunch areas at the building.
“This is a trophy asset in the heart of Double Bay.”
Auctioneer Damien Cooley had three competing, with bidding opening at $18m and a high-net worth local Chinese investor securing it with a knockout $500,000 bid.
He will hold it as a passive investment.
RELATED: Aussie John Symond buys site for $21m
The five-storey property, with a net annual rental of more than $1m a year, is one of the largest freeholds in Double Bay with 1529sqm of space and one of the most modern.
The tenants are BeFit Training & Physiotherapy on the ground level, Edge Serviced Offices on levels one two and three and chiropractors Universal Health on the top floor.
The two underbidders were both eastern suburbs businessmen who were keen to own the valuable site as well as use one of the serviced offices as their base.
The building offers district views.
It offers 1529sqm of internal space.
“They’re sick of going into the city, they’re eastern suburbs locals who wanted to be where it’s all happening … have a coffee downstairs and work upstairs,” Pontey said.
The Aussie Home Loans founder bought 356-366 New South Head Road for $21m on March 18 — current home of Ray White Double Bay who are moving to new headquarters nearby in a few years — as a “long-term hold” and is planning a major refurbishment.
The director of Fortis Group, Charles Mellick — who has spend about $128m on five commercial development sites in Double Bay in the past 18 months — was one of the underbidders for the Ray White Double Bay building but wasn’t bidding yesterday.
Mellick is also behind Pallas House in Bay Street, which has had a $13.5m upgrade, home to a new Neil Perry restaurant.
