Former bank premises in Rowley Regis to go under the hammer

A landmark former bank premises in Rowley Regis is coming up for sale with Bond Wolfe Auctions on Wednesday 9 December.

The former HSBC branch, at 185 High Street, in Blackheath town centre, was converted to a restaurant five years ago. It is also seen as suitable for a variety of alternative uses, subject to obtaining any necessary planning permissions.

The property currently has a guide price* of £195,000+ but is expected to attract considerable interest from potential investors from across the UK – the most recent Bond Wolfe Auctions sale event, in October, was viewed online by more than 32,000 people.

Ian Tudor, managing director of Bond Wolfe Auctions, said: “This is a particularly attractive empty freehold property, in a prominent position. It has a large open plan area on the ground floor as well as a basement and accommodation on the first floor. It would suit a broad variety of uses in addition to its current configuration as a restaurant and has been priced to attract keen interest.

“Interest in commercial property is clearly growing and we expect to see competitive bidding for this substantial town centre lot.

“Lots such as this attract interest not just from investors regionally but increasingly from London and the South West, confirming Bond Wolfe Auctions’ as a truly national auction business.”

At present, 185 High Street is laid out to provide a largely open plan area on the ground floor with former kitchen and preparation areas, a separate room suitable for private dining, and an inner lobby with access to a spacious basement area.

On the first floor there is a single bedroom with en-suite shower room, lounge, kitchen area, double bedroom, shower room with WC. The flat has gas fired central heating.

Outside there is a side driveway and small parking area to the rear. The property is in need of refurbishment throughout but is considered suitable for continuation of its existing use as a restaurant/bar or a variety of alternative uses, subject to planning permission.

In total, the premises offer around 3,640 sq ft of space but Bond Wolfe Auctions advises that any interested parties should obtain their own verification of the floor areas and dimensions and ensure that it is suitable for any proposed future use.

Sitting on the roundabout junction of the High Street and Birmingham Road, it is surrounded by a good mix of local retailers as well as national operators including Sainsbury’s, Wilko, Iceland, Greggs, Coral, Specsavers and Age UK.

Growing interest in this kind of property has led Bond Wolfe Auctions to recently announce plans to run commercial auctions separately from residential sales from the Spring of 2021.

The 9 December auction follows Bond Wolfe Auctions’ record result of £21.3 million raised at its October sale.

The company sold 185 lots from the 201 lots offered on Wednesday 28 October, which represented an impressive success rate of 93%.

Its previous record was set at its auction in February this year, which achieved total sales of just over £20.25 million.

Mr Tudor added: “We are experiencing a huge interest in our livestreamed auctions, with 603,152 website page views, 103,626 video tours watched and over 32,666 people tuning in to watch the 28 October auction live.”

For more information on property auctions or further advice on remote bidding, please contact Bond Wolfe Auctions on 0121 312 1212 or email [email protected].