Byron Bay—Australia’s favourite destination for the famous and the well-heeled—is to get its first five-star hotel in the town’s centre.
A $200-a-night motel, less than 100m from the town’s Main Beach, will be demolished to make way for the 76-room luxury hotel.
A second motel on an adjacent property will be refurbished.
Plus Architecture’s Brisbane studio has completed plans for the hotel at 33-35 Lawson Street—currently home to the 30-year-old Waves Motel on one lot and the Hibiscus Motel on the other.
The unnamed owner of the two sites—a long-time Byron Bay resident—has teamed with a local developer to deliver the project.
Schematic designs for the project were released in May and a development application will be lodged with Byron Shire Council later this year.
Plus Architecture have designed the four-storey hotel to sit on 1020sq m—about half the size of the double block.
The Hibiscus Motel at 33 Lawson Street will be demolished, while the neighbouring Waves Motel is expected to be retained, refurbished and incorporated into the hotel design.
Plus Architecture said there would be a big light-filled atrium at the heart of the new construction, with a ground-floor lobby, bar and high-end restaurant.
The building is expected to rise about 12m with a roof terrace pool, spa and bar, as well as basement parking for 110 vehicles.
Practice principal Chrisney Formosa said it would be “the best rooftop bar that Byron will ever know”.
“This will be about the private experience of absolute luxury and wellness,” Formosa said.
“And we think that speaks to not what Byron is today but what Byron is trending to be. Byron has a very international presence, which is new, it’s only happened in the past 10 years.
“And what we’re trying to do is put an international-style hotel in Byron.”
The developers are looking to partner with an international hotel brand for the property.
“It will be a boutique brand, a unique identity that hasn’t been done before,” Formosa said. “That is what Byron needs. Something that is highly curated because that’s the community here.
“There’s a lot of refurbished hotels or refurbished accommodation, a lot of Airbnb-style accommodation. But there isn’t anything that’s new and nothing really high end, unless it’s a converted old house or motel.”
The emerald stretch of northern NSW with a permanent population of about 35,000 has been ranked the top residential hotspot for the world’s ultra-wealthy.
In fact, Byron’s median house price more than doubled during the pandemic hitting $3.09 million—significantly higher than most Sydney suburbs—and property prices are forecast to soar a further 30 to 35 per cent in the next five years.
According to online data from CoreLogic, the Waves Motel at 35 Lawson Street last changed hands in June 2007 for $19.5 million. The next-door Hibiscus Motel, on a similar-sized block, was sold in June 2017 for $6.125 million.
And last week Johns Lyng Group chief executive and Byron Bay regular Scott Didier put his 52-key hotel in the heart of town on the market.
More than 50 potential buyers answered the expressions-of-interest campaign for the Vali Byron Bay, which is expected to fetch upwards of $30 million.
