Bidders at Conrad Ritblat’s most recent auction sipped champagne and competed for lots by candlelight when a power cut plunged the May Fair Inter-Continental Hotel into darkness.
As engineers struggled to repair the fault Conrad Ritblat raised more than £6.95m in truly Victorian conditions. With neither sound system nor air-conditioning, chilled champagne was served to cool the bidders as they sweltered in the heat of dozens of candles.
In what auctioneer Simon Riggall described as a difficult financial week, about 60% of the lots on offer were sold and some good prices were achieved.
The freehold on 122-124 Charing Cross Road, WC2, sold for £1,950,000. The 7,345-sq ft development produces £54,400 pa and was sold with part-vacant possession.
A 38,500-sq ft ex-department store built in the 1930s at 213-223 Lewisham Way, Brockley, also attracted a lot of interest. The freehold on the site went for £435,000.
The Wellington Buildings on the Strand in Liverpool, a 59,600-sq ft freehold office development producing £43,965 pa, was knocked down for an impressive £390,000.
Conrad Ritblat’s next auction will be held on December 16.
