East Geelong bank blows reserve away
The Commonwealth Bank has pocketed $360,000 more than it wanted for its former East Geelong branch when it sold at auction on Thursday.
Geelong investors paid $1.46 million for the Garden St property after outbidding three other parties at a hot lunchtime auction.
The local family will hold the property as an investment, the buyers confirmed after the auction.
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Colliers International, Geelong auctioneer Andrew Lewis says the Commonwealth Bank set the reserve price at $1.1 million for the 428sqm property, which has a shared driveway and rear car park.
The bank shut the branch in March.
Bidding for the property opened at $810,000, with four bidders raising a hand about 60 times before Lewis dropped the hammer to end the auction.
The Commonwealth Bank’s former East Geelong branch auctioned by Collier International’s Andrew Lewis. Picture: Alison Wynd
The auction attracted a number of prominent Geelong investors and local real estate agents among the big lunchtime crowd.
Lewis says the result was surprising.
“We had been quoting $1 million to $1.1 million, it came on the market at $1.1 million and went from there,” he says.
Garden St has been the epicentre of an improving shopping strip in East Geelong, he says.
“Next to Pako, it’s probably as good a strip as you’re going to get.”
“And if you put this in Pako, you were probably going to get $1.5 million, plus, every day.
“The reality of this is it’s a nice, single-level property with rear car parking. That’s what he liked about it.”
This article from the Geelong Advertiser originally appeared as “Commonwealth Bank sells East Geelong branch with interest as four buyers chase investment”.
