THE prospect of a unique commercial real estate offering has been welcomed by local experts.
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The former Dairy Farmers site is set to undergo a $23 million redevelopment, which, if approved, would make it home to serviced apartments, a commercial office suite and a piazza.
But, with so many vacant spaces around the central business district, is it an appropriate development?
Bathurst Real Estate's Mick Whittaker and Bathurst Business Chamber president Angus Edwards both think it is, if it's done right.
Having been in the industry for 25 years, Mr Whittaker knows the Dairy Farmers site is a prime piece of real estate in the CBD and has sat vacant for far too long.
"That site needs to be developed, absolutely, 100 per cent," he said.
The aspect of the proposed development Mr Whittaker sees a lot of value in is the serviced apartments.
"There seems to be an awful lot of things that go on in Bathurst that take a lot of our accommodation, so I would think this would only enhance the ability to bring more and more people to town on weekends and during the week, by way of tourists," he said.
He acknowledged that there are some vacancies in the CBD, but said the success of commercial spaces on the old Dairy Farmers site would be dependent largely on rent prices and how the different aspects of the development work together.
"I suppose it's yet to be seen as to whether that type of commercial setup is going to be successful, and only time will tell, but I think we have to give our city the opportunity to grow," Mr Whittaker said.
According to Mr Edwards, what would make commercial development successful is offering something completely different to what's already available in the CBD.
He said there are a lot of opportunities for traditional retail already, but not many for other types of businesses.
"There's lots of start-up businesses in town and it'd be really great to have some space there for once they outgrow wherever they are, to set up a proper office and have somewhere to go," Mr Edwards said.
One of the criticisms of a previous proposal for the site was that the building would not fit in with Bathurst's heritage streetscape.
Mr Whittaker said he hopes people don't dwell on that point too much with the new proposal, saying it was time the site was developed.
"That site needs to be developed and it needs to be developed to it's full potential," he said.
"It's an extraordinarily busy corner and if we can get more visitors staying in the CBD, then that potentially gives our existing shopkeepers more people to market towards."