HISTORIC Tremain’s Mill is on the market and the owner is hopeful of a million-dollar price tag at the auction on May 7.
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When news of the upcoming sale broke last month, heritage groups joined forces and pleaded for the buildings, dating back to 1859, to be saved.
The 8522 square metre mill, with 5000 square metres of let-able area, has been listed with Raine and Horne Bathurst.
With almost 40 years of real estate experience, Raine and Horne principal Matt Clifton expects significant interest from investors and developers in the property.
“We’ve had a good number of calls already,” he said.
“I expect we’ll get quite a bit of interest, and I think there will be quite a bit of curiosity interest.”
The site includes a preschool (Keppel Street Kindy), laundromat (Keppel Street Laundry), Bedwells Feed Barn, as well as the old mill and concrete silos, a number of inter-linked buildings (constructed from a mix of brick and corrugated iron) and a vacant block of land on Havannah Street.
Tremain’s Mill also has three street frontages – Havannah, Keppel and Manilla streets.
Mr Clifton said “clearly there is some development potential” at the expansive site.
“But any development is going to have to meet with any restrictions because of the heritage,” he said.
“It certainly would appeal to investors because it’s got 20 separate tenants that are all occupied ... someone could buy it purely as an investment.
“They are incredibly stable and long-term, so from an investment point of view, it’s incredibly stable.”
Bathurst resident, and the woman behind the Save our Silos Facebook page, Tracy Sorensen urged the community to take action last month before the building was listed for sale.
“As soon as a heritage building starts changing hands it becomes a vulnerable moment for these buildings ... a heritage order doesn’t guarantee preservation,” she said in February.
Ms Sorensen said the need to conserve the site becomes more urgent once the building is on the market as developers will spend significant amounts of money to create a development application (DA).
“By the time a DA gets to council a huge amount of money has already been spent,” she said.
Mr Clifton said the 20 tenants within the Tremain’s Mill site pay a total of $195,000 each year in rent.
“It’s quite a significant site and does represent a pretty good opportunity for some people considering the income stream.”
The property will appear in Domain in the Western Times and Saturday’s Advocate.