The site of the former Illawarra indoor cricket centre is in new hands, after being sold in 2021 for nearly $20 million.
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Property records show that 91-97 Princes Highway, Fairy Meadow sold for $19,580,000 in June 2021 in an off-market sale.
The new owner is Wakeling Property Investments, the property investment business of car dealership mogul Scott Wakeling.
Mr Wakeling is the managing director of Wakeling Automotive which owns a number of car dealerships in the Macarthur region and Southern Highlands, as well as Wollongong City Motors and Shellharbour City Motors.
Mr Wakeling was contacted for comment but was on leave.
Wakeling Property Investments also owns two industrial development sites in south western Sydney.
Prior to the sale, the former buildings have been torn down, leaving the concrete slab. Currently, building materials sit on site, however no major building works have commenced.
The former cricket centre has remained an eyesore on the Princes Highway for nearly 20 years after it burnt down.
The previous owner, Pakshell Pty Ltd proposed to repurpose the high-profile site as a data centre, however plans never got off the ground. Development applications were also lodged and approved for the site to be used as a storage facility for timber and machinery.
It remains unclear what the future for the site hold, but subsequent owner Quality Green Group took a significant windfall in the sale, having purchased the land for just under $4 million in 2010 from Sebvell Pty Ltd, a company controlled by disgraced former developer Frank Vellar who was found guilty in 2011 of lying to the Independent Commission Against Corruption during its probe into the sex-for-developments scandal in 2007-08.
Previously, the site was earmarked as the location for a call centre for collapsed telecommunications company One.Tel.
As the property transitions between plans and buyers it became known for graffiti and neglect, with clear signs of vandalism visible from outside.
With fears of asbestos contamination, local member Ryan Park said at the time that the buildings should be demolished, prompting the then-owners to call for political intervention to bring a new tenant to the site.
The 1.6 hectare site is zoned B6 Enterprise Corridor, which under the Wollongong Local Environment Plan allows for light industrial and commercial uses, although options for retail uses are limited.
With significant demand for industrial land in the Illawarra and the new owner's connection to industrial sites, residents dreams of an Ikea, cinema or indoor skate park may have to move elsewhere.
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