There was good demand for commercial buildings in the Johannesburg and Benoni central business districts (CBDs), but there was little demand for vacant development land at Aucor’s multiproperty auction at Gallagher Estate yesterday.

“It wasn’t a bad auction, and there was good demand for commercial buildings in Johannesburg and Benoni, but it seemed that bidders shied away from development land,” auctioneer Eddie Winterstein said afterwards.

A private game reserve, a mountain lodge, development land in Zandspruit and three properties in the Johannesburg CBD were among the lots that came under the hammer.

Among the Johannesburg properties was an apartment block with a retail component in Kerk Street. The building with 35 bachelor flats and ground- floor shops in the city’s fashion district sold for R5,5m.

A factory/warehouse with a gross lettable area of 2969m² in Anderson Street fetched R4,6m.

The third property in the Johannesburg CBD, two warehouses with offices with gross lettable areas of 996m² and 1706m² on Mooi and Commissioner Streets is within the Absa precinct. A combined price of R2,35m was attained.

There was brisk bidding for a service station site in Vosloorus. The 3318m² property situated on a main road is ready for development. It sold for R1,3m.

Two buildings in Benoni came under the hammer. A retail and residential block with 12 apartments with a potential income of R20000 a month on Howard Avenue sold for R1,4m.

Source: Business Day