Spa king seeks $12m for property

ONE of Byron Bay's most controversial properties has gone on the market with an asking price of $12 million.

The luxurious Byron Bay mansion owned by entrepreneur and property developer Eddie Phillips in Lighthouse Road is on the market for a reported $12 million.

ONE of Byron Bay’s most controversial properties has gone on the market with an asking price of $12 million.

Owned by Eddie ‘The Spa King’ Phillips, the ocean-view home was built in 2006 following a three-year battle with Byron Shire Council.

At the time, the council told Mr Phillips he could not build the house because it was ‘too big’. The development application was twice rejected by the council.

But Mr Phillips claimed he had been victimised by council as a ‘tall poppy’, which Mayor Jan Barham said was ‘outrageous’.

Mr Phillips eventually won the right to build his palace after the matter was heard in the NSW Land and Environment Court in 2006 – a process which is believed to have cost him about $120,000.

The three-level house is situated on Lighthouse Road and has expansive views of Clarkes Beach.

It has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and an 18-metre pool.

One of the bedrooms takes up the entire top floor.

Renovations have only recently been completed.

But the $12 million price tag is more than double the 2007 listing price of $5.5 million.

Selling agent Janis Perkins, from Raine and Horne Byron Bay, said Mr Phillips’ property was ‘beyond compare’.

The Byron-based entrepreneur and property developer is renowned for taking onmajor projects while keeping a relatively low profile.

In 2006, Mr Phillips told The Northern Star he wanted to buy the Beach Hotel from Paul Hogan and John Cornell.

This came just a week after he sold his two Mullumbimby pubs and the Kirra Beach Hotel as a $34 million package deal to North Queensland business magnate Tom Hedley.

Mr Phillips also owns the Pearl South Pacific, a resort in Fiji which he spent more than $15 million developing.

He also has one of Australia’s largest and most comprehensive collections of surfboards, a collection acquired over the past 25 years.

Originally published as Spa king seeks $12m for property