Ben Tillman, director of cafe and performance space Yours & Owls, confirmed the Kembla Street location was on the market.

"We're still open and trading, but we're selling the DA, the licence and the business, the physical space," Mr Tillman said.

The Illawarra gig guide

Yours & Owls opened as a cafe and small bar in 2010, arguably paving the way for new small bars like Howlin' Wolf, Dagwood and His Boy Elroy. It has since become the only regular live music venue in the Wollongong CBD, hosting local and touring bands as well as art exhibitions, slam poetry and open mic nights.

A listing on business sales website realbusinesses.com.au states the $40,000 price tag includes "full liquor licence, full bar set-up, all sound equipment and a new lease".

The operators have been contemplating selling the business for some time. Last November, following a lengthy legal battle over graffiti on the venue's exterior, co-owner Balunn Jones said the owners were looking to sell the venue "for a variety of reasons".

"Hopefully it goes to someone who's got a similar point of view to us and it doesn't just fade away," Mr Jones said at the time.

"I hope it will be kept on as a small bar space with the same basic principles," Mr Tillman said.

Music scene advocate Rob Carr said that "Owls" had become a hub for the arts community and a "vital part of the music scene".

"Owls is central to live music advocacy in Wollongong ," he said.