Old Hippodrome site sells at auction for £98,000

The old Hippodrome site sold at auction today for £98,000 – a figure that will be subject to VAT and other fees on top.

The site is currently cleared and secured and had a planning consent granted in 2006 (which has now lapsed) for the demolition of old building and construction of A1 commercial units.

The 719sqm site was the old Hippodrome cinema site that closed in 1997 and burnt down in a mystery fire in June 2008.

Locally the guide price of £50k + vat and various fees had attracted a small group of people who held exploratory talks to see if a local bid could be put together over the last few weeks. We are told the rough plan was to acquire the site for the benefit of the town, or be ready to step in if it did not sell. Regardless, that idea was moot with bidding soon shooting well past that range.

Pugh Auctions placed the land under the hammer just after midday with initially quiet bidding from a £50,000 starting price, however with two interested parties the price soon shot up.

Although £100k was asked with no takers, a £95k bid was scraped upwards to £98k after some work by the auctioneer.

The buyer is as of yet unknown.

The lot before the Hippodrome site was 6-8 Henblas Street, which is a retail unit comprising of a two storey terraced retail unit, with sales to the ground floor and storage to the first floor.

That lot had no interest and did not sell – despite having the guide dropped prior to the auction, and an opening invitation of £90,000 as a starting bid.

Top pic: The site that sold earlier today in the warm of the winter sun.