City site sells for $250,000
AFREEHOLD commercial site in the centre of Suva less than 1/5 of an acre was sold for a whooping $250,000, according to The Fiji Times of January 6, 1970. An agreement for sale was entered into between trustees JP Bayly Estate and a group thought to be include local businessmen and overseas investors.
The site covered about 30 perches at the corner of Pratt St and Joske St.
The building on it housed three shops, a storeroom and an auction room.
Mr N. McFarlane, a trustee of the JP Bayly Estate, said nearly 20 tenders were received including one from Sydney.
The local tenders were from business houses and property developers, Mr MacFarlane said.
He added that he was not at liberty to disclose the names of the buyers.
A name linked with a deal was thought to be Mr Brijlal of Brijlal and Company, merchants of Cumming St.
Mr Brijlal, when asked about the transaction, referred questions to barrister and solicitor K.L.Kapadia.
Mr Kapadia declined to comment when contacted on the sale saying “it was premature at this stage”.
Real estate agents town planners described the transaction as Suva’s most spectacular property deal.
“The implications of this are highly significant,” said one source connected to city planning.
“This must set standards for future transactions,” he said.
The area was regarded as a prime commercial site in a city where land at the time was at a premium.
The building on the site was demolished and a multi-storey construction erected in its place.
There was speculation that the First National City Bank, an American bank which planned to open an office in Fiji, might have been interested in leasing a building erected on the site.
“We are interested in any good possibility for our office and this is a possibility.
“But at this moment it is too premature to make any statements,” said Mr Brent Morgan, Fiji manager for the bank.
Charities and voluntary organisations benefitted from the sale of the site. The proceeds boosted the funds of the JP Bayly Trust board.
Mr J P Bayly, a millionaire Fiji landowner, rubber plant and grazier, died in 1963.
He was a philanthropist who in 1955 started Suva’s JP Bayly Clinic financed from his estate.
JP Bayly Estate Trust board was set up by Mr Bayly during his lifetime to help underprivileged people.