$2.64m offer a very nice reception indeed

Bells were ringing at the former site of Berkeley Lodge reception centre as it sold under the hammer yesterday for a record-setting $1250 per square metre.

The 2114sq m venue at 258 Pakington St, in Geelong West, went for $2.64 million with more than 80 people gathering to watch or participate in the multimillion-dollar auction.

According to CoreLogic Data, the sale price is the highest per-square-metre sale for residential land in the Geelong West area.

Local buyers snapped up the property, but would not reveal their plans for the site, according to the selling agent Tim Darcy from Darcy Jarman.

“They’re a local party and they have not divulged what their plans may or may not be in respect to the property. It’s a little unknown what they might do,” he said.

Bidding kicked off at $1.8 million and four bidders were putting their hands up for the prime-positioned block.

Mr Darcy said it was the first time an allotment of its size and history had bee on the market since Armytage House sold in the mid-1990s.

“Within our commercial world, over 2000sq m of land within our most iconic and significant cultural strip doesn’t happen every day,” he said. “It was a really positive outcome and a positive result, and just another glowing endorsement of Pakington St as a very much sought after and popular real estate location.”

In the past Mr Darcy has said the site would be well suited to owner-occupiers who would continue the business as a restaurant or function centre, or for developers looking to capitalise on the Pakington St address.