Melbourne auctions: Footscray phone tower block doubles reserve
A Sydney company will reap a lucrative $68,000 a year rental return after buying 6 Whitehall Street, Footscray.
A tiny Footscray block housing a mobile phone tower has doubled its reserve to fetch just shy of $1m at auction.
Teska Carson director George Takis said the seller of the 43.9sq m government property at 6 Whitehall Street, Footscray — the Department of Finance and Treasury — was bowled over by the $990,000 result.
Seven bidders pushed it about $500,000 beyond reserve, with the rare offering initially listed with price expectations of $400,000.
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The Footscray landholding was just 43.9sq m in size.
Prior to the auction, Mr Takis said the tower represented a rare opportunity for buyers to snag a property with a proven $68,000 annual rental return from the tenant, telecommunications infrastructure group Axicom.
Mum and dad investors had been among the buyers eyeing off the prize leading up to the auction, he said. But a Sydney company with other similar investments pipped them all.
“It’s a rare gem,” he said.
“In my 25 to 30 years in real estate, there have only been two or three (phone towers) I’ve been associated with.”
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A block of apartments at 1-16/110 Wellington Street, St Kilda, was also auctioned midweek.
Gary Peer agent Julian Millman said the dated block was in need of a little tender love and care.
The buyer intends to “spruce” the apartments up and lease them out.
Meanwhile, an investor bidding online from Amsterdam scooped up a St Kilda complex containing 15 one-bedroom apartments at 1-16/110 Wellington Street at another midweek auction.
Gary Peer agent Julian Millman said the property sold “well beyond” the top of the quoted $3.75m-$4.125m range for an undisclosed price.
“He’s an investor, so he may spruce it up a bit and rent it out,” Mr Millman said.
A staggering $4.2m offer from a keen buyer triggered an early auction for 10 Erica Avenue, Glen Iris.
A family ultimately went home with the keys after outbidding three other bidders.
And in Glen Iris, a massive $4.2m offer triggered an early auction for a family home, bringing it forward from Saturday to Wednesday.
Kay & Burton agent Adam Cashmore said a young family beat three other bidders to the keys of the five-bedroom home at 10 Erica Avenue, which sold beyond the top of its $3.7m-$3.9m range for an undisclosed price.
Kay & Burton agent Adam Cashmore said the home sold for an undisclosed price.
Bidding started after the acknowledgment of the offer and just “took off”, he said.
“In their wildest dreams, the vendor never thought it would reach those levels,” Mr Cashmore said.
“(But) I think the heat may come out of the market when we hit spring as we get closer to Christmas, as it always does.”
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