Owners buzzing after Beehive building sells at auction to Border family

A crowd of at least 50 onlookers attended the auction of the 1889 corner property on Dean and Townsend streets on Friday, December 1, where it sold for $1.65 million.

An opening bid of $1.5 million came from Border investor Ivan Peppe for the landmark building, which was beaten by a vendor bid of $1.6 million by auctioneer Andrew Dixon, of Dixon Commercial Real Estate.

Mr Peppe then increased his offer to $1.65 million and the property was passed in after no further bids.

After a brief discussion with vendors Rod and Elizabeth Pike and Mr Peppe, the final bid was agreed on as the selling price.

Mrs Pike purchased the Beehive building in 1997 from the Moy family, which had housed a shoe shop since 1962.

Her husband operated his pharmacy there until 2008 when it became Fifield's chemist.

It now has four separate tenants, including fashion retailer Country Labels and a barber shop, with an annual rental income of more than $100,000.

The couple were thrilled to see the property remain with a Border family.

"We're very excited that it will stay in local ownership," Mr Pike said.

"It was a very dilapidated building when we bought it and we traded in it for about 10 years.

"It's been a great investment, but it's time to move on to other projects."

Mrs Pike said the property sold "a little below" what they had hoped for, but they were pleased to have it finalised without putting it on the open market.

"We would have liked a bit more for it, but the market today is telling us what it is worth," Mrs Pike said.

Mrs Pike spent thousands on upgrades to the building throughout the period of ownership, including major works to the facade in 2015, which saw the colour change from white to a Dulux paint known as Harold Holt.

The Pike name will continue to have a presence in the Beehive building with their daughter to move her beauty business, Face by Alex Pike, from Kiewa Street to the premises in January 2024.