"But these sorts of opportunities, to purchase such a large parcel of land on our doorstep, don't come along every day. It gives us some flexibility with our future planning, especially with the challenges facing Victoria St if the Council goes ahead with the proposed streetscape which includes losing a significant number of carparks.
"We want a successful, vibrant Victoria St that will benefit all the businesses in this precinct. Our size means that we are fortunate to have the ability to help provide a safe, busy street with a mix of offerings. Victoria St is a pivotal part of the Christchurch CBD as the northern gateway to the city so it's crucial to make it an attractive place to visit."
Marketing agents Hamish Doig, managing director of Colliers International in Christchurch, and Courtney Doig, said that strategically located bare land continues to attract significant interest from developers wanting to consolidate their holdings or those looking for new opportunities.
"We are thrilled to achieve an outstanding result for our vendors, after the land was held in the same ownership of the late Martin Coffey for circa 35 years. We are excited to see how the buyer ultimately develops such a key central city location," Courtney Doig said.
"Since the earthquakes, there has been a lot of activity in vacant land sales within the four avenues as investors have sought to consolidate their holdings. Our records show that, since the start of 2015, there have been 64 commercial vacant land sales, collectively valued at $120,118,000."
A smaller site covering 523sq m at 54 Salisbury St also sold at the Colliers auction for $775,000 to a private local investor.
