Prime Bunbury CBD and waterfront sites for sale

Several prime CBD and waterfront blocks estimated to be worth millions of dollars have been put on the market in the latest efforts to revitalise Bunbury.

One of the blocks has been earmarked for a “four to five star hotel” because of its location in the heart of the city and adjacent to the Leschenault Inlet, while it is hoped another prime beachfront site will be finally snapped up despite its marred development history.

The price of the five blocks is being put back into the hands of investors with Colliers International running an expression of interest campaign on behalf of Bunbury City Council.

The suite of land includes more than 4000sq m over the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre carpark which the council identified as a potential hotel site in 2015 and Lot 66 Ocean Drive, which has previously had two conditional sale contracts fall through

The three other sites include another vacant beachside block at Lot 497 Ocean Drive, Lot 1881 Koombana Drive next to the new Department of Parks and Wildlife headquarters and more than 7000sq m of land at the beach end of Clifton Street in the CBD.

Colliers International development consulting and agency director Erwin Edlinger said the campaign would give developers, investors and hotel operators access to significant tourism, apartment and mixed-use projects in the South West.

“With a busy port and a thriving tourism industry, Bunbury is WA’s second largest city and one of the fastest growing regional centres in Australia,” Mr Edlinger said.

“These are some of the best land holdings in Bunbury’s CBD and fringe area and the zonings will allow for a range of developments that will promote economic growth.”

The sites come with an assortment of zonings with the Clifton and Blair street blocks zoned for multiple residential and hotel and the Koombana and Ocean drive lots eligible for a mixture of both tourism and residential.

“There is strong support from the City of Bunbury, Tourism WA and the South West Development Commission for a four to five star hotel on the Blair Street site because it is located next to the waterfront and the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre,” Mr Edlinger said.

The campaign comes as the council in April entered into an agreement with LandCorp to promote several sites across the city – including the former Punchbowl Caravan Park on Ocean Drive – for sale and development.

The final three lots of prime waterfront land in the Koombana North precinct were also put on the market last month.

While the council had not sold some of the land across the city in the past, Mayor Gary Brennan said he was “hopeful” all blocks would sell and there was not a better time to invest in Bunbury.

“At the moment market values are at the lower end, it’s the perfect time for developers and investors to be bold,” Mr Brennan said.