Pro-Surfer Owen Wright Makes Development Debut at Byron

Owen Wright’s first foray into development mirrors his approach to surfing: stay calm, adjust constantly and trust the line you’re riding. Wright was Australia’s first Olympic surfing medallist, earning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. And it was a truly remarkable comeback. In December 2015, Wright had a horrific wipeout at Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii and received a traumatic brain injury. He had to learn again how to talk, walk and surf. But following his incredibly tenacious return to surfing, Wright has turned his performance mindset to property development, on a site that is steps away from what he says is the second-best surfing break in Australia (Jervis Bay is his favourite). Moments from Clarkes Beach and storied surfing spot, The Pass, Wright walked on the site once, and then from Tahiti inked a deal that would launch his move into property development. The former pro-surfer partnered with Burke Urban and Molti to deliver four family homes at Byron. It was a pared-back response to the site, which could have been developed into a multi-residential apartment block in a location he calls “someone’s absolute dream spot”. “I’ve always loved Byron. I wanted a house near the beach and I saw this as a way to create that,” Wright tells The Urban Developer. “It was pretty simple really—this was within walking distance to The Pass. The location did all the talking.” ▲ Wright and wife Kita Alexander have completed their first project at Byron Bay. Wright grew up within walking distance of Culburra Beach, about 190km by road south of Sydney. His ambition was to create the same opportunity for his children. “I saw the site and just thought: this spot is too hard to come by,” he says. “It’s walking distance to The Pass, the lighthouse walk is across the road, the kids’ school is around the corner. The location just begged for it.” Wright put his foot on the site in 2018 before the pandemic reset the bar and prices rocketed. The median house price in Byron Bay is now about $2.535 million, up from $987,500 in 2018 when Wright nabbed the block. Wright says it was an “easy, natural partnership” formed with Molti and Burke Urban, who helped to bring the vision for the Clarkes Beach site to life. “This was my first go at it, so I wanted to learn from them just as much as deliver something special,” Wright says. “It’s quite a big step … I think I underestimated how large it was. I just pulled on every contact and resource I knew to help bring this to life.” Choosing what to develop on the site was a personal journey, Wright explains. He says the site was well-suited to an eight-apartment configuration, but after a brief exploration of the concept, Wright says he knew it wasn’t the way forward. ▲ Wright ( pictured in Tahiti in 2014 ) says the development is within walking distance of one of the best surf breaks in the world, The Pass at Byron Bay. The Hogg &amp; Lamb-designed homes celebrate Byron Bay’s climate and relaxed coastal lifestyle. “I wanted to create homes for families. Having young kids myself at the time, that’s where it all started,” he says. “For me, I felt good in my heart about it. “And towns love that. Everyone I spoke to said, ‘Well, you built family homes — you could’ve done eight units.’ “I remember walking across the beach as a kid. Now I can walk across with my own kids. That’s what brings me back.” The final home on the site, which was held back from the market, has just been listed. The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on Daniels Street is expected to go for about $6.5 million. Stand-alone new-build houses are a rarity in Byron Bay, Burke Urban director Kym Burke says. “New developments are mostly apartment and townhouse focused,” Burke says. Molti managing director Ben Teague says the project captured the essence of Byron’s relaxed lifestyle and refined living. “Every detail from the material palette to the flow between indoor and outdoor spaces has been considered to create something truly special,” he says. ▲ The last of the four standalone homes is now on the market, but Wright has a new townhouse site also in Byron that he will start working on after a breather. Wright and wife, singer Kita Alexander, have acquired another site at Byron Bay, but Wright says he is just taking a “little breather”, before he jumps on the next wave. He says in surfing and in property development, it all comes down to mindset. “You never know what’s going to happen. There’s so many things that go wrong in the ocean, and throughout my career I’ve had some big accidents. “I felt like I had a really good headspace. I brought that mindset into this property development. “At every stage there’s so many things that can go wrong, but you’ve just got to keep twisting and turning and finding the solutions. Managing a project felt a lot like surfing big waves—you’re constantly adjusting, reacting, finding another line.”

Pro-Surfer Owen Wright Makes Development Debut at Byron

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