AUSTRALIAN automotive company Tony White Group has bought almost an 11,000 square metre city block in Hobart – but ABC News is reporting the company has not disclosed if the site will become a car dealership.

Tony White Group (TWG) has bought the former K&D warehouse site in Hobart from the University of Tasmania for $31 million, according to ABC News.

ABC News said the university (UTAS) had bought the inner-city site in Melville Street in 2019 as part of plans to transfer its Sandy Bay campus to the city. But last year it changed the plans and decided to put the property on the market.

TWG, which has about 60 car dealerships plus other automotive businesses, has a large number of its dealerships in Tasmania.

In hearing that the buyer of the site was a car dealership group, Hobart City Council councillor Ryan Posselt said “car yards take up a lot of space and, in that space, Tasmanians could be living.”

The Hobart City Council is looking at providing incentives for city developments that include medium-density housing.

Councillor Posselt said he would pursue a ban on future single-use, broad-acre car yards in the city.

“Whether it’s our night-time economy, hospitality, retail or innovation, we need people to be in our city, and we know that 5000 Tasmanians don’t have a roof above their heads,” he said.

The Hobart CBD site sale was bound by a confidentiality agreement until last week, ABC News said, when TWG allowed the details to become public.

Tony White

The site was part of the university’s now-scrapped plans for a complete move into the CBD. 

The former K&D block, which had been used recently by basketball academy Swisherr, had been earmarked to become a mixed university, retail and commercial precinct. 

City of Hobart voters rejected the city move in 2022, and UTAS has since scaled back plans, said ABC News.

It is understood that UTAS sold the site after pulling back on plans for a mixed-use precinct.

Tony White Group dealership, Ferntree Gully, Victoria

The property’s sale garnered a lot of attention. Real estate agents Burgess Rawson and Ray White Tasmania said it attracted 117 inquiries internationally, before it was sold to the Tony White Group.

ABC News said that the property had attracted Homes Tasmania, the state government’s housing arm. 

Asked about the interest by ABC News, a Homes Tasmania spokesperson said: “We assessed the former UTAS site for social and affordable housing, however it was not suitable.”

But it said it was “open to partnering with the successful purchaser on the delivery of any residential development on the site”.

Burgess Rawson said the Tony White Group has not decided on how it would use the site, but said a “mixed development” was being considered.

“As a locally operated, family-owned automotive group and one of Tasmania’s largest private ​employers, we’re proud to be part of this community. Our commitment to Tasmania is long-term; supporting jobs, helping to develop a sustainable future, and contributing to the State’s economic wellbeing.

“While no plans have been finalised, we remain committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders. We see this investment as an opportunity to create new jobs and support the
local economy, whilst also ensuring the development aligns with the future needs of all Tasmanians and delivers ongoing benefits for the state.”

By Neil Dowling