Byron Bay warehouse listed with $14m price tag
A large freehold warehouse in Byron Bay is on the market with price expectations of $13 million to $14 million as the town’s industrial estate looks to cement itself as a “serious investor hub”.
While the spotlight has been on Byron’s glitzy residential and hotel market, where hundreds of millions of dollars have changed hands in recent years, the local industrial sector has also taken off.
Once a cheaper ‘out-of-town’ hub for small local businesses, The Bay Arts and Industrial Estate, located just a few kilometres from the Byron Bay town centre, has grown into a trendy, sought-after commercial and industrial precinct.
Long-term locals Rick and Gayle Hultgren are selling the 3862-square-metre site at 11 Centennial Circuit with plans to retire. After running a dive shop in Byron for several years, the couple built the warehouse in 2000 to house their wholesale diving business. The warehouse has been leased to various local businesses since the Hultgrens sold their company in 2012.
Having lived in Byron Bay since the 1970s, Rick Hultgren has experienced the evolution of the estate first-hand. “It’s become quite expensive in the last 10 years,” Rick Hultgren said. “It used to be a small little [estate] with surfboard manufacturers and artist enclaves.”
While still home to creatives and surf brands, the precinct has attracted the likes of multimillion-dollar empires and prominent investors. A second town centre of sorts, it’s dotted with studios, cafes and brand headquarters, all just a few hundred metres from Belongil Beach.
The Hultgrens also own the property next door, which is leased to their daughter Belinda’s trapeze school, Circus Arts. But there are no plans to sell that property. “I’d be in trouble,” he joked. Their son, Chayne Hultgren, known as the Space Cowboy for his sideshow and circus performing, also has a gallery space in the estate.
Listing agent Karin Heller of Smile Elite said Byron Bay’s industrial market was “one of the markets that remains buoyant”.
“It’s definitely come off from a year ago, but there are still lots of buyers looking for commercial property. Byron is still very, very sought after.”
Last year, a vacant 4800-square-metre block of land in Banksia Drive fetched $9.6 million, while a former garden centre on 4000 square metres at 2 Grevillea Street sold for $11.5 million.
The industrial estate was tightly held, Heller said, adding the local council restricted how much land can be developed.
“There are individual units that come up for sale, but not standalone, freehold blocks.
“This property is probably one of the largest land size and warehouses in the industrial estate. It’s got two floors of offices and a 2820-square-metre area of clear space.”
The building’s internal space is one of the property’s main selling points and was at the forefront of Hultgren’s mind when building.
“I wanted to create something without beams in the way,” said Hultgren. “It’s the only one I know of in the area that is free of internal beams.”
The space could be utilised as storage, or hold large machinery or factory equipment. Only a few years ago, Hultgren was approached by television producers looking for a space to film.
Clothing brand Thrills currently rent most of the building, with their lease ending in 2024.
Heller said she had fielded interest from prospective buyers in Sydney as well as local Byron Bay residents.
“We’ve had investors just looking to sit on it and land bank it for a while. We’ve also had people looking who want to utilise it themselves.”
“It’s no longer a sleepy place to have a holiday – it’s a serious investor hub. Some people are looking to spend big money.”
