Heritage listed Regent Theatre in Wollongong for sale

The building was placed on the market in October 2009, in a surprise sale bid that came to nothing.

In 2016, the owners of the building painted the beloved landmark olive green, after heritage investigations confirmed this was the facade’s original colour.

Gateway City Church pastor Scott Hanzy said when the Keira Street building had been on the market previously, “basically we were a bit double-minded”.

“We had outgrown the building in some respects, and we just felt we needed to look at the next step,” he said.

“But we loved the position, and it’s a great building. So we kept it on for a little while, and then we ended up saying, ‘we want to stay here’.

“This time we’ve definitely outgrown it. Our kids’ program, our youth (program), it just doesn’t suit for where we are right now.”

The theatre last sold for $3.5 million in 2005. Photo: Supplied

Colliers International is offering The Regent Theatre for sale via Expressions of Interest, closing on October 12 at 4pm.

Colliers’ general manager Wollongong Marcelo Ramirez said while the main building and facade were listed under state heritage significance, the air space above the offices located on level one can be redeveloped, subject to council approval.

“There’s actually scope if the new prospective purchaser wanted to redevelop the site; the offices above you can actually redevelop,” he said.

“If you go on the roof you can actually see that they’ve brought the columns all the way up and through the roof for future expansion.

“I think you’d probably put there between three or four levels of additional offices, accommodation or whatever you wanted to do.”

In 2016, the owners of the building painted the beloved landmark olive green. Photo: Supplied

Pastor Hanzy said they were looking to potentially, “have two congregations, one central and one south… There’s options that we’re looking at that don’t really fit this building”.

Illawarra theatre owner Herbert Wyndham Jones planned the Regent’s construction during the 1930s and 1940s, but did not live to see it realised.

When it opened in 1957, with lavish art deco styling, it quickly asserted itself as the grandest picture theatre in the region.

Mr Jones’ wife and son ran the picture business before his daughter, Rowena Milgrove, took it on.

Mrs Milgrove died in January 2004, 20 days before she was going to close the cinema permanently, amid mounting financial pressure.