Home of border clothing venture to become fitness hub after strong auction sale
STORY ACCREDIATION: The Border Mail, 5 December, 2025 | WRITER: Hana Humboldt
Dixon Commercial Real Estate auctioneer Andrew Dixon calls for bids on the former Albury T-Shirt World building on Townsend Street. Picture by Phoebe Adams
The home of a long-running central Albury business has changed hands at auction, with big plans in motion for a transformation.
Not even a 37-degree scorcher could keep Dixon Commercial Real Estate from delivering two more stellar sales in the Albury CBD on Friday, December 5.
One of the properties to change hands was the Albury T-Shirt World building on Townsend Street.
In what auctioneer Andrew Dixon described “central Albury at its best”, it sold for $1.72 million after nine bids.
An opening offer of $1.45 million was put forward, with the sale price exceeding the estimated $1.6 million floated by Mr Dixon.
The successful bidder, Fernwood Fitness owner Julie Nixon, was overjoyed.
“I never thought I’d ever be spending that much money in my life, so I was pretty nervous,” she said.
After 45 years of business, T-Shirt World on Townsend Street will see a new lease on life as the next chapter for a women’s-only gym. Picture by Phoebe Adams
“We’ve got a lovely community [at Fernwood Fitness]. We’re just outgrowing our building [on Townsend Street] and we had to try to find somewhere to move to, and this property came up on the market.
“The 1200 square metres is a good size for us, so we decided to come and check it out.”
Currently on 680 square metres, Ms Nixon said “this is going to be nearly double the size … and the parking is great as well,” complemented by rear access from Reserve Street.
“We have been looking either to lease or purchase … but to lease, there are only places in your industrial areas or out of town, and our ladies certainly like to have that one-stop-shop where they can come do a gym workout, have a coffee, do shopping and go home,” she said.
Ms Nixon had only seen the listing a week before the auction.
With the aim to have council approvals and renovations done as soon as possible, she hoped for an August move-in following the expiry of her current lease in the same month.
Former T-Shirt World and Flexi Print owner Ray Black built the lot some 45 years ago with two other partners, before eventually becoming the sole owner.
This Macauley Street property in the heart of Albury’s competitive CBD sold at auction after a fierce exchange of bids. Picture by Hana Humboldt.
Having printed for clothing brands such as Nike and Adidas, his business was quickly eclipsed by a rapid three-year change in technology where the labels moved those services in-house.
When asked what he planned to do with his future of retirement, Mr Black said “just enjoy it”.
Earlier in the day, the Macaulay Street office of Albury Wodonga Real Estate saw a fierce three-way bidding war before selling within expectations of its sellers at $1,070,000.
An opening bid of $825,000 was quickly challenged by multiple $25,000 increases before slowing to $10,000 increments.
Retired principal and licencee of the agency Christine Nesbit, and her husband Joseph, were selling the premises to enjoy retirement.
“This is where I spent my last 20 years, every day, seven days a week. It’s home,” she said.
“As you can see by the table, it’s all scribbled and written on, and it’s got a few indents on it. It could tell a story, this table.”
Dixon Commercial Real Estate sold this Macauley Street property for more than $1.2 million in autumn 2025. Picture by Hana Humboldt
Being a veteran of the industry, but too emotionally involved to sell her own property, she left the campaign to another agency.
“Personally, I did not want to sell it,” Ms Nesbit said.
“In fact, I said to Joe just before the auction started, ‘do we really want to sell this? I can walk out there now and pull it.”
The Nesbits had considered renovating the property to return it to a residence if they weren’t satisfied with the sale price.
“When you’ve done strata [management], you end up doing construction. In this business, I’ve done everything from becoming an IT nerd to construction,” Mrs Nesbit said.
“Joe and I used to rip roofs off houses and put them back on because they were old.
“We walked into some places and you could see daylight through them, and the rain coming through on people in beds – all sorts of things.”
Mrs Nesbit agreed to go to market at $995,000.
“Even if you’re at $995,000, [people] still don’t register that it’s only $5,000 away from a million,” she said.
“But once … it reaches that million, the dirty word’s out and gone, and now people are really in the focus to start to bid.”
“I was not taking anything below a million.”
She was impressed with the sale figure, quoting a Canberra home which sold for only $10,000 more.
Mrs Nesbit was elected chair of the strata chapter for the Real Estate Institute of NSW two years ago, and despite retiring to her Burrumbuttock cattle farm, is still involved in the industry.