Harvey to part with resort at Byron Bay

RICH lister Gerry Harvey may be selling his Byron Bay resort but he’s not ready to cut Magic Millions loose just yet.

The Harvey Norman chairman, who is also selling seven blocks in Runaway Bay for $5 million per lot, said selling the prestigious horse sales event could land him in strife with wife Katie Page-Harvey. The Magic Millions yearlings sale topped the $150 million mark earlier this year.

“I might consider it (selling Magic Millions) but my wife wouldn’t, she’d kill me,” he said.

“She doesn’t want to sell the Byron either. It took me I reckon eight to 10 months to say, Katie, why do we have to have the Byron?”

Mr Harvey owns half of the 92-suite Byron at Byron Resort and Spa, which is situated amid 18ha of subtropical rainforest just outside the popular NSW tourist hotspot. The other half is owned by a Harvey Norman Holdings subsidiary, which has also made the decision to sell.

The resort, which has easy access to the beach, features The Restaurant, which was awarded one hat in the 2019 Good Food Guide Awards, conference centre, infinityedge swimming pool, tennis court, gym and day spa.

Mr Harvey said he was seeking to cut down on his portfolio of “trophy assets”.

“It is like Magic Millions and different other things I’ve got. I’ve sort of probably got to get rid of a few of them over the years,” he said.

He described himself as a “reluctant seller” and said if the resort did not sell, he would not be regretful.

Mr Harvey, who placed at number 40 on the recent Financial Review rich list with $1.9 billion, said visiting the resort was a popular pastime for him and Ms Page-Harvey.

“We used to go there more than we do now because we’re spending too much time on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“Katie has got a couple of nice houses there next door,” he said. “She is (also) a reluctant seller but I talked her around.”

Mr Harvey said the resort would be ideal for a branded resort of “five to seven stars” to come in and start operating in Byron Bay.

“It is exclusive, he said.

“You have the ocean on one side and golf course on the other. It is not like you could build this tomorrow, it just can’t happen.”

He said it was difficult to put a value on the resort, previously said to be worth between it is irreplaceable,” $40 to $50 million, because the pool of buyers for luxury resorts was small and it was a rare opportunity.

Mr Harvey said he was also selling another “trophy asset”, seven blocks in Runaway Bay at the waterfront end of Poinsettia Ave, where he planned to build luxury apartments.

The council knocked back his plans for a four-level building and Mr Harvey decided not to proceed with a smaller building because the cost of the project did not stack up.

“I’ve put it back on the market for $5 million a block,” he said.

“These are some of the best blocks you can get on the Gold Coast. They are not readily saleable at $5 million a block because ... there are not a lot of buyers at $5 million a block.

“But if you want, probably, one of the best blocks on the Gold Coast, then you going to buy it.”

CBRE Hotels’ Wayne Bunz and Andrew Jackson are running an expressionsof-interest campaign for the Byron at Byron resort.

“Acquiring a land parcel and gaining the necessary approvals to build this type of asset in Byron Bay is notoriously difficult, and approvals of this nature may never again be repeated in the area,,” Mr Bunz said. are