‘I wish I had more of them’: disused motel on NSW north coast attracts huge interest at auction

They say that size isn’t everything in real estate but when it comes to a property in the northern NSW town of Kundabung, it would appear that it’s at least something.

A long-vacant, 16-room motel just outside the NSW north coast village on 3.6 hectares has proven a surprise hit with potential buyers, despite being in desperate need of repair.

The property, formerly the Kundabung Motor Inn, attracted 10 registered bidders when it went to auction last month, eventually selling for $342,000 to a local tennis coach who planned to transform it into a tennis school.

Selling agent Leah Elford of Winsome Real Estate said interest in the property, which also included a restaurant space and a four-bedroom manager’s residence, came from a wide range of buyers.

“Some of the people who were looking at it wanted to use it as a respite centre or a retreat. One of them wanted to use it as a base for their trucking business – a depot where his drivers could sleep in the rooms during their break.

“I need two more of them,” said Ms Elford, adding that two of the bidders who missed out on securing the property were still on the hunt for something of a similar scale.

The intense interest came despite the property’s close proximity to a busy highway and its state of disrepair, with the amount of work required to make the property habitable seemingly of little concern to prospective buyers.

“It was a bit special, being a former hotel and being located outside of town … buyers really had to think outside of the box,” Ms Elford said.

The property has been vacant since being acquired by the Roads and Maritime Service in 2012 as part of the Pacific Highway expansion.

Domain Group data shows that the RMS paid $790,000 to acquire the site.

The property, part of which was used for the highway expansion, was surplus to RMS needs following the project’s completion.

Any plans for the site, which is zoned RU2 Rural Landscape, will need to be approved by the local council.

It is not yet known which elements of the motel, if any, will be retained as part of the new plans.