The Bower at Broulee on NSW south coast hits the market

The business, at 2352 George Bass Drive, provides four-star accommodation in five self-contained villas, known as “bowers”, and an Airstream travel trailer. Each bower lot occupies between 6800 square metres and 1.17 ha of bush.

There are five existing bowers on the property, with plans for more accommodation options. Photo Supplied

Each bower occupies a minimum of 6800 square metres of private bushland. Photo: Supplied

Backing on to the Illawong Nature Reserve, the real estate, which is tied with the business, also comes with development approval for expansion into an ecotourism project.

The council has given the green light for a glamping site, which will be the home of 37 transportable eco-units. These could potentially be safari tents, tiny cabins or earth shelters.

A hilltop retreat on two lots will feature a lodge with 28 attached units, conference space, a wellness centre, yoga facilities and a community permaculture garden.

An artist’s impression of the 28-unit accommodation. Image: Supplied

Interest is growing in Australia’s wellness tourism industry. Image: Supplied

Planned communal facilities include a restaurant, amphitheatre and a community recreation building, while two more bowers will also be built.

Ray White Hotels selling agent Mark Bullock said the new plans had taken several years to get through council and had cost the Berrys “a few hundred thousand dollars”.

“It’s got the opportunity to be something completely different again with the DA they’ve got in place,” he said.

The Airstream trailer, similar to a caravan, is a springboard for the glamping concept. Photo: Supplied

Part of the land is already being tenanted by a day spa business. Photo: Supplied

The agent, who has the listing with Michael Ajaka from Ray White Commercial, noted that development approvals on large parcels of land backing on to nature reserves were generally harder to secure.

“Development approval processes are pretty long and drawn out and exhaustive,” Mr Bullock said.

“That’s where the costs come in because you need to get the right people and engage the right contractors to help you get the case right (and) propose it right from the outset. Because the more to-ing and fro-ing, the more costs involved.”

The listing comes amid growing interest in the wellness tourism industry, which is worth about $6.4 billion in Australia and growing at an average rate of 15 per cent a year, a Global Wellness Institute report found.

Buyers interested so far have mostly been mum-and-dad operators who were not looking at the development potential, as well as developers, including one from China, and smaller hotel groups.