Good news in Gisborne: Former Macedon House Hotel sells above expected price on same day as The Block auctions

About 80 people gathered at the southern gateway into town for the auction of the former Macedon Hotel, a derelict yet historic building on a sprawling 20,950-square-metre block.

Listed on the market with price expectations of circa $2 million, the property at 1 Kilmore Road sold for $2.525 million. 

The three bidders were all developer-builder groups from the local area. The property was passed in at $2.3 million but sold just 20 minutes after the auction to the highest bidder.

The buyer, a builder based in the Macedon Shire, has taken on a substantial restoration job, given the hotel’s heritage listing requires the reconstruction of the building’s remnants and the overall repurposing of the site.

“We’re told they have a good relationship with the local council,” said listing agent Rory White of Gray Johnson, who sold the listing alongside Broadhurst Property.

“They know the back story and history of the site. I don’t know exactly what they want to do with the hotel, but they do want to subdivide and build residential out back.”

A report prepared by the Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s Gisborne Futures Project had identified part of the site as suiting medium-density housing, recommending the property to be rezoned to general residential.

White praised the local buyers for committing to what he described as a “unique product”.

“There’s a lot of overlay and restrictions. Some people would have put it in the too-hard basket,” he said.

It was a strong result for the vendors, who paid $1.36 million for the site in 2018.

Although the property value had almost doubled, the vendors – a Queensland developer group – had forked out hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultancy reports.

Until recently, they had a heritage permit to extend and develop the premises into a boutique residence and permission to subdivide into three allotments.

Built in 1847, the historic hotel was delicensed in 1867 and had previously been used as a boarding house, a private residence, a school and a bowls clubhouse. Bitumen roads surround the Kilmore property on three sides.

Gisborne, just an hour’s drive from Melbourne’s CBD, is a popular tree-change location, with residential growth forecasted over the next decade.

About six months ago – long before The Block auction dates were announced – the former hotel was scheduled to go to auction in early November. However, White acknowledged the timing of the series had been beneficial.

“It certainly did help put Gisborne on the map,”  he said. 

Opportunistic agents and vendors in town are still hoping to capitalise on the popular television show. Recently, a 40,000-square metre block sitting directly opposite the five Block homes was listed for sale with a $3 million price tag.

The three-bedroom homestead on the property was leased to The Block employees during the filming and construction of the latest season.

Closer to town, a 697-square-metre vacant block on Hamilton Street is being touted as one of the last commercial land sites available in Gisborne.

It is listed through Raine & Horne Gisborne with price hopes of $890,000.