The currently vacant 1872 building, on the corner of Camp Street, sold for about $2.1 million sight-unseen in June 2021, and less than a year later, is up for sale or lease via Colliers International.

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Managing director Andrew Lewis said the characterful building, which has been renovated inside but retains its classic facade and bluestone cellar, had been receiving offers from interested parties, so the owners decided to check out their options.

"Essentially, it was sold at auction for about $2.1m, it's been advertised for lease, and in light of the fact we haven't found a tenant yet, we've had offers of $2.5m," he said.

"The vendors said if we get $2.8m, we'd be interested - we've had some interest from buyers but not to that level yet.

"Rather than sit on our hands doing nothing, they could sell it and make a profit and happy days, or lease it and hold it."

FROM JANUARY: REIV housing price figures show Ballarat and regional Victorian housing is still booming with no sign of slowing down

More broadly in Ballarat, Mr Lewis said while office and commercial sales had been excitingly high as the pandemic recedes, office leases had been noticeably slow compared to Geelong.

"It hasn't kicked in here in Ballarat yet, maybe it'll kick in after the election," he said.

"Retail leasing's been pretty good, still a few vacancies, but they all have tenants looking at them - there's not a lot of vacant space in Sturt Street, because a lot is leased or in the process of being leased.

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"Industrial sales are going off their nut, sale and land, and industrial leasing has slowed down, the price people are prepared to pay for the land has grown significantly, but the price they're prepared to pay to lease hasn't grown significantly.

"It's never a straight pattern, the reality is there's good money around to buy at the moment, and that doesn't necessarily mean there's a growth in the number of tenants."

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