Chandler sells Tibco corner

Local business and property owner Mr David Chandler has sold his Woy Woy investment property for almost $1.5 million.

The Boulevarde property fetched $1.48 million, sold to a Gosford buyer looking for a long-term stable cash flow with a return of around 8.5 per cent per annum, according to Central Coast Business Review magazine.

The sale was negotiated by Geoff Treble and Craig Harrison of LJ Hooker Woy Woy.

Mr Chandler bought the property in 1994, which consisted of two lots with two tenants, paying $350,000.

He subsequently spent $650,000 improving it, to fit in with his vision for Woy Woy.

"Our vision was to make Woy Woy, Sydney's version of Sausalito, a similar coastal town outside of San Francisco and with a lot of effort resulted in council adopting the Woy Woy master plan," Mr Chandler said.

"Unfortunately this was frustrated by other landowners who just wanted to sit and do nothing."

In refurbishing the property, Mr Chandler added a floor to lot one and reinstated the corner to its original architecture, subsequently adding a floor to lot two.

This attracted the global IT company Tibco as a major tenant and they secured a major telecommunications upgrade for Woy Woy to support their global support centre.

It also attracted a startup IT business, Comselect and the ground floor Gnostic Cafe which has become a well-known Woy Woy destination.

The redevelopment of this property had the knock-on effect of attracting tenants to the property owned by Tony Altavilla opposite which at that time was vacant and is now fully leased.

The Bay View Hotel was subsequently refurbished and extended, and so was Fisherman's Wharf.

"All up, lots one and two have gone from supporting four low-paid jobs to more than 25 well-paid jobs with nearly a million dollars a year in income going into the economy."

An additional 15 to 20 jobs are supported at Tony Altavilla's property opposite.

Publication, 1 Jul 2010 Central Coast Business Review