A VACANT office space adjoining a local shopping centre on Bribie Island sparked a bidding war as
37 Sunderland Drive at Banksia Beach sold under the hammer for $1,650,000.
The freehold property, that came with 515sq m* building area on a 1,202sq m* land allotment, offered seven individual offices with large open-plan areas.
The asset was marketed and sold by Ray White Northern Corridor Group Principal Chris Massie and Sales and Leasing Executive Aaron Canavan.
Mr Massie said with a modest nine enquiries and five inspections throughout the four-week campaign, there was little indication of what was to come.
“You could have been forgiven for thinking that a Blue-Chip National was on the auction block when bidding began,” Mr Massie said.
“A bidding war between a speculative investor and an owner-occupier ensued and this really showed the power of the auction process to achieve premium results through competition.
“We had five registered bidders but it quickly came down to two.”
Mr Canavan said the reserve was surpassed within the first 10 bids and that was a sign that it was going to be a special auction.
“It started with jumps in fifty thousand-dollar increments, then the war of attrition began that saw the owner-occupier eventually win out after 191 bids,” Mr Canavan said.
Ray White Northern Corridor Group’s Head Auctioneer Brocke Hambrecht said he’d never seen anything like it in all his years of auctioneering.
“I’ve called over 1,000 auctions, including marquee Melbourne residences, and I’ve never experienced this level of bidding,” Mr Hambrecht said.
“There’s a long-held belief that commercial property doesn’t involve emotion. It’s just not the case.”
*Approximately.