North Batemans Bay: New luxury development unveiled for Surfside amid housing crisis

A luxury complex is due to break ground later this year adding to developer Core Asset Development’s $100m, four-tower project titled Eden. Take our poll, should luxury living be built in a housing crisis?

Plans for a new luxury development in North Batemans Bay were announced on Thursday as candidates in the Bega by-election campaign to end a regional housing crisis that has forced some residents into homelessness.

Developer Core Asset Development Pty Ltd announced on Thursday they had acquired 10,300sq m of beachfront land at 2A Myamba Parade in the suburb of Surfside for a residential and eco-tourism development.

The $30 project has already received development approval according to the developer and will include a five star eco-tourism resort.

Approval for an additional 22 apartments and townhouses is being sought by Core Asset Development, as well as a “glamping” operation, restaurants, bars, a conference and wedding centre, and a 65-room hotel.

Dubbed “The Sapphire Batemans”, the project will abut the Cullendulla Creek Nature Reserve and the popular Surfside beach.

Core Asset Development director Mark Toma said he was excited about the unique opportunity to put Batemans on the five-star tourism map with a top quality hotel, function centre and luxury accommodation.

“We are especially keen to create a glamping operation as the position is perfect for couples and families to enjoy a pristine, private setting on two beaches with boardwalks and nature trails in the area”, he said.

Construction is due to start later this year and will follow on from a similar project in Eden that broke ground this month.

The $100 million, four-tower luxury complex in Eden known as the The Sapphire of Eden is located near the recently refurbished Hotel Australasia which was sold to Core Asset Developments last year for $5 million.

According to the Core Asset Development website, the project is unlike anything previously built in the region.

“Sapphire of Eden is a dramatic, sculptural work of art,” according to the website.

“It encompasses a selection of beautifully appointed one, two and three bedroom apartments across three buildings, crowned by breathtaking penthouses.

“These unmatched residences are poised to attract a diversity of buyers, from first time purchasers to holiday makers, families and those eager to trade the family home for something more state-of-the-art, low maintenance and convenient.”

All three projects are expected to generate hundred of jobs, according to Mr Toma.

“Both our projects will give the south coast a much needed, private sector shot in the arm, generating jobs and economic growth to the area through tourism,” he said.

The developments come at a time when many low-income households are struggling to find rental accommodation on the south coast, with local businesses having to occasionally shutter operations due to a staffing shortages inflamed by the housing crisis and the Covid pandemic.

Elders Real Estate Batemans Bay property manager Kait Moore spoke with The South Coast News in January and said they had as many as 10 to 15 properties available to rent at any given time.

Now, they have just three.

“We’ve gone months with just a 0 per cent occupancy rate,” she said.

“In our area, people are becoming homeless, and it’s becoming quite a high number.”

Labor candidate for Bega and former Obstetrician-Gynaecologists Michael Holland has campaigned on addressing health service shortfalls in the region by fixing the current housing.

“The health of the community is just not access to quality health care, it is access to education and training, access to affordable housing, safe and secure jobs in our region and a thriving natural environment,” he said.