Auction of Jesmond Dene nursery pushed back to June

The auction to sell Jesmond Dene nursery has been postponed until June 5th while the fate of Jesmond’s real tennis club is decided.

JesmondLocal reported last year that the council was planning to sell off Jesmond Dene nursery in an online auction set to begin this month. In order to give more time to those involved, auctioneers Lambert, Smith, Hampton (LSH) have now postponed the auction until June.

“We’re trying to sort out the tennis court and whether it’s in or whether it’s out,” said Simon Riggall, director of LSH. “The decision will change the legal pack… the tennis court is an integral part of the development.”

The starting price of the property is set at £4 million and there are already 19 different bidders ‘watching’ the auction online. Rather than being sold by tender, where each bid is written and confidential, Jesmond Dene nursery will be sold publicly in an online auction.

“We’re doing it online because of the size and complexities… and people need more time to deal with it,” said Riggall. “The advantage of doing it this way is that a boardroom can decide together whether or not to bid higher.”

The auction of Jesmond Dene nursery will operate much in the same way as an eBay auction where the bidding stays open as long as new bids are being made within a small time limit.

The online bidding is now set to start on June 5th and will be open for one week. The bids will be made publicly and can be seen on the LSH website here.