South Australia’s giant crustacean, Larry the Lobster, fails to sell at auction

SOUTH Australia’s largest crustacean, Larry the Lobster, has failed to reel in any buyers at auction today. So is this SA icon in hot water or will he stay in the pink?

Reeling in tourists — Larry the Lobster, at Kingston.

• Kingston’s 17m-high giant lobster and restaurant business is for sale
• Larry the Lobster lives on, thanks to $50k makeover
• Government pitches in to save Larry the Lobster
• Greg Barila: Why we can’t afford to lose Larry the Lobster

SOUTH Australia’s largest crustacean, Larry the Lobster, has failed to reel in a new buyer at an auction in Kingston, today.

The 17m-high icon and restaurant business, on 4500sq m of land, did not receive one bid — despite national attention on the sale.

Auctioneer Ben Treloar, of Ottoson Partners Real Estate, offered a vendor bid of $300,000, but the crowd of more than 100 people stayed silent.

Mr Treloar said despite the outcome they were negotiating with two perspective parties on the sale price of $369,000 and hoped to reach a decision within a week.

“News of the sale reached six million people from Australia and worldwide so we’re pretty confident we’ll get a result shortly,” Mr Treloar said.

“The two perspective parties are from New South Wales and Victoria and they both saw the business through the national exposure.

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“Both plan to move to Kingston (if successful) because they can see the potential of being on the highway with the number of people that stop to photograph Larry.

“Kingston is a magnificent part of the world, it’s clean, green, pristine with good fishing and wineries close by.

“It really is a wonderful place to live.”

The property, on the Princes Highway 300km south of Adelaide, would be for sale under auction conditions until midnight tonight.

Larry underwent structural repairs and a new paint job as part of a $50,000 makeover earlier this year ahead of the sale.

The restaurant business comes with building furniture and a 24 hour special circumstance liquor licence.

Larry has been a tourist drawcard for nearly 40 years and recently underwent $50,000 worth of structural repairs and a new paint job to bring him back to his former glory.

Originally published as South Australia’s giant crustacean, Larry the Lobster, fails to sell at auction