Anglican Church looks to offload prime Coast property

Situated only 150m from Hastings St, the Anglican Church is looking for interested parties to put pen to paper on their prime 1ha Noosa site.

The Anglican Church is looking for the next owner or tenant for Noosa's Heritage-listed Halse Lodge, located only 150m from Hastings St.

Situated only 150m from Hastings St, the Anglican Church is looking for interested parties to put pen to paper on their prime 1ha Noosa site.

Noosa's Heritage-listed Halse Lodge, located only 150m from Hastings St is looking for its next owner or tenant.

The Anglican Church Southern Queensland, which has been the custodian of the Heritage-listed site for 61 years, will be seeking all offers and opportunities when the property is offered to the market this week for the first time in 25 years.

Currently leased by a backpacker hostel, the 7989sq m property, located at 2 Halse Ln in Noosa Heads, is expected to be highly sought after by interested parties.

Noosa's Heritage-listed Halse Lodge, circa 1961.

The origins of the property, known locally as Halse Lodge, date back to the 1880s when the original structure was built as a guesthouse by Walter Hay, considered to be the “Father of Noosa”.

The building was replaced in the 1920s, with a larger building using some of the materials from the original site.

It was renamed Hillcrest, and then later named Halse Lodge.

It is the last remaining timber accommodation building in Noosa and is the longest continuously operating guesthouse in southeast Queensland.

Noosa's Heritage-listed Halse Lodge, in 2020. The current lease for use as a backpacker’s lodge is soon to expire.

Group manager for property Hiro Kawamata said the Anglican Church was excited to be offering the iconic Noosa property to the market to see what long-term vision other accommodation and tourism operators might have for the site.

“With the current lease expiring for use as a backpackers lodge, we thought it was an ideal time to go to the public and test what else we could potentially do with the site,” he said.

An expressions of interest campaign will be run by Blake Goddard and Matt Barker of Knight Frank on behalf of the owner.

They are currently open to all potential opportunities, including a long-term lease, joint venture, a possible sale or other alternative structures.

“We expect this property to be highly sought after, with interest to come from overseas, interstate and local groups, including food and beverage operators, boutique accommodation providers, and private groups,” Mr Goddard said.

“This site is in a very high-profile location within Noosa and is of a significant size, being nearly a hectare of land in such close proximity to Hastings St, the tourism town’s main hub.”

The expressions of interest campaign for the property will launch on September 17 and close on October 22.

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