Clarke House - a multi-storey 1,025 square metre commercial building at 101 Clarke Street, South Melbourne - owned by former Piping Hot managing director Mark Johannsen sold 24 hours before its scheduled auction on Friday.
Interestingly, it was purchased by a local owner-occupier and prominent CBD building owner who spotted the property on social media while holidaying in Europe, then toured it virtually and subsequently purchased it for $6.56 million before it went under the hammer – without them physically setting foot in the building.
Selling as a vacant possession listing, Clarke House sits atop flexible commercial zoning (C2Z) making it suitable for a host of different business operations, while featuring modern open plan office floorspace, a premium kitchenette and end-of-trip facilities, 16 off-street car parks, as well as 47 metres of street frontage. The property also enjoys vast connectivity to key arterials including the Monash Freeway, Melbourne’s CBD and public transport network.
The transaction was brokered by Jones Real Estate's Paul Jones and Luke Peric.
To achieve the sales result, Jones Real Estate implemented a digital media-driven campaign and building repositioning strategy that included rebranding the asset to Clarke House (previously listed as 101-105 Clarke Street), and a refreshed marketing approach leveraging premium video content rolled out via paid social media to attract international participation, which drove roughly 40,000 views on Facebook and Instagram.
Talking about the sale of Clarke House, Paul Jones, said: "The importance of making a property stand out across digital in the current market is crucial to a campaign’s success, and Clarke House is a prime example of this."
Luke Peric added, "Leveraging the power of social media has become a key enabler for amplifying visually enticing marketing assets and is now a core focus in our strategy development. We are thrilled with the outcome this approach has helped us achieve.”
Jones Real Estate anticipates the property could achieve a potential rental income of $555,700 per annum excluding GST and outgoings.
