A prime piece of Werribee real estate went under the hammer on Thursday, and despite a bid of $2 million, it could not be sold.
First National Real Estate Westwood held the auction for 17 and 17A Bridge Street, Werribee.
At a massive 2150 square metres, the block included a run-down brick house and a wide driveway that led to a rear workshop.
First National Westwood managing director Bob Westwood told Star Weekly he was confident the property would sell privately for about $2.5 million.
“We’re not too concerned that it didn’t sell at auction today,” he said.
“This is an absolutely blue ribbon development property and it will sell.
“With a 30-metre frontage this is an excellent property for development.”
After a vendor bid of $2 million, the property passed in.
Mr Westwood said he had lived in Werribee for about 40 years and he would like to see the property become a part of the growing CBD.
He estimated that it would cost about $5 million for a developer to build an ideal mixed use building on the site.
“I’d want to see it turned into shops and offices,” he said.
“It has every opportunity to have a number of levels of residential properties on top of a few levels of shops and offices.
“We’ve got to start making more use of the CBD because at the moment it is somewhat contained. We need to go up rather than out.”
Mr Westwood said the back section of the land was last used as a workshop for STA Transport about10 years ago.
It was also the house of former Wyndham mayor Ted Dowling.
“This is a piece of history,” Mr Westwood said.
“Ted was one of the most prominent and respected members of the community. He was a great initiator of development in the area.”
