Period homes that have been converted into commercial spaces are hot on the market for potential businesses and there are not many left.
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Location, heritage facade and high ceilings are just some of the draw card features, but there's just one catch.
Nearly all residential period homes that have been converted into commercial zoning, can never be converted back.
Wagga PRD commercial agent Anthony Paul is managing a federation style medical/office listing on Trail Street and said these style of properties are sought after.
Mr Paul said these homes are "sought after" by development planners, financial brokers and workplace centres because they have character.
"The rooms generally have high ceilings and are quite large in space, which suit a lot of businesses that require smart and presentable offices and street frontage," he said.
"There's not too many of these properties left as our CBD is very tight, with only the main streets and eastern side of Trail and Peter streets zoned, as well as Blake and Berry streets."
Mr Paul said once residential properties are zoned to become commercial, under the Wagga Local Environment Plan, they can not be converted back.
"If they're in the CBD commercial zoning, you lose the right to use them as residence," he said.
"When you look at the CBD, only one side of Peter Street is commercially zoned and on the western side, unless it's got existing user rights prior to the LEP, you can't have offices there, with medical practices being the only type of businesses allowed."
Fitzpatricks director Paul Gooden said this movement of converting period homes into businesses likely started in the 1970s, when Wagga witnessed a rapid expansion.
"One thing is the location and the older the home, the closer it is to the CBD," Mr Gooden said.
"If these conversions are renovated correctly, they can add sophistication and stability to the business, for example AKW business on Johnston Street is a very old and hearty building that gives the air of stability and solidity."
Mr Gooden said these old commercial buildings come and go on the market, but said more people are wanting to demolish the buildings on valuable land.
"We will continue to see these buildings hit the market as quite often the occupants are older in Central," he said.
"I'm of the opinion now that modern business people tend to completely demolish and rebuild using the location value of the land, which will rise.
"While they can afford to knock homes down, the challenge is that they must obey heritage conservation and be synthetic to the landscape."
Hore and Davies Real Estate agency moved from a Peter Street residence to 126 Baylis Street in early March to increase their profile within the city.
"The period building served us well for about 30 years, but there was an opportunity to ultimately showcase and give our business a corner profile, which benefits our clients," said John Bittar, agency director.
"Traffic flow is 100 fold to what it was and it can't hurt any business to be in a prominent area that is ultimately beneficial to our clients.
"We now have these four screens that is our point of difference and showing our listings in a different light to customers."
Mr Bittar said there is definitely a demand for period homes, but it depends on the business.
"The health industry is growing and there is demand for that type of property, but it's more in this industry than others," he said.
Wagga historian and president of the Wagga District and Historical Society Geoff Burch said businesses that take over heritage or period homes ensures their survival.
"Ideally it would be nice if the government would maintain these homes but this is a sign of progress for the city," he said.
"The former Belmore house, now the Houston was a good example of a derelict home that was bought and rebuilt and this ensures that these home survives."
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