High demand for house building land fuels record price

Commercial property consultancy Lisney has confirmed the sale of the C&C warehouse complex on Ravenhill Avenue for what is a new record price for East Belfast.

Following a short marketing period and an extremely competitive round of bidding the 1.87 acre site was sold at auction for £2.275 million, which equates to a record £1.2 million per acre.

The 1960s property which offers 46,000 sq ft of space is adjacent to the highly successful Ardenlee and Old Bakers Court residential developments. Although the site was sold without any alternative planning consent, it is understood that the new owner proposes to develop the property into a high density residential scheme. The name of the purchaser has not been disclosed.

Lisney Director David McNellis, who handled the sale said: “The price achieved has certainly exceeded all expectations but appears to be part of a continuing trend which has developed in recent weeks.

“The prices realised for a number of other development opportunities recently have raised a few eyebrows. We have attained a series of surprising results in the auction room recently and we expect the pattern to continue for the foreseeable future with other auctions.

“Developers are actively seeking Brownfield and Greenfield opportunities. These opportunities are limited at the moment which has created a healthy competition in the auction room. Anyone who is considering selling land which is suitable for residential development should contact Lisney to discuss a possible auction sale.”

C&C spokesman Sam Hands commented: “We are delighted with the price achieved as it will help fund our major warehouse development on Castlereagh Road. Building work has commenced on a state of the art warehouse which will be completed by January 2005.”

(SP)