Byron Plaza to Make Way for 54 Apartments

New plans to replace the Byron Plaza with a $52-million mixed-use development are now before the NSW Northern Regional Planning Panel.

The plans, from Multiplicity Byron Bay, led by Stanley Quek from Greencliffe and Adam Garrison, propose 54 apartments in a three-storey building.

There is also a rooftop pool and common area plus ground-floor retail at 90-96 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, which is next to the former Woolworths site.

Multiple plans have been lodged for the site, including one for 18 units plus takeaway food and drink premises, just before the pandemic.

Those plans were lodged by Steve Agnew’s Beachbreak Developments, who had the site on the market last year.

The latest plans for the 5390sq m site, by Harley Graham Architects, also include a “spice alley” with eateries connecting Jonson Street to the Byron Transit Centre as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

There is basement parking for 173 vehicles, 100 of those for retail use which is the predominant use of the land in its current state.

“The design of the project both respects established planning principles and strives to meet the needs of the community by bringing to life an otherwise static place,” the application said.

“The public areas of a central landscaped piazza and spice alley linkage offer pedestrian space and enhance the indoor-outdoor amenity of the site.

“Spice alley comprises a series of eateries and is located where the current private laneway is.”

If approved the developers could make the most of the piping-hot Byron market which has led the country's property market boom.

House prices in Byron now have a median value higher than Sydney, at $1.4 million.

Pubs, celebrity retreats, shopping centres and hotels have hit the market in the past yea—on the nearby 98-116 Jonson Street site a new shopping centre was sold for around $120 million in May.