Byron Bay's Belongil Beach Becomes Australia's Newest Luxury Property Hotspot
Byron Bay has long held a magnetic pull for Australia's wealthy elite, but a recent string of high-profile acquisitions is cementing one particular stretch of coastline as the country's most coveted new address. Belongil Beach, a pristine peninsula sitting just north of Byron Bay's bustling town centre, is fast becoming a playground for billionaires, richlisters, and high-net-worth investors — and the latest purchase is turning heads across the nation's luxury property market.
Damien Gance, the billionaire son of Chemist Warehouse co-founder Sam Gance, and his wife Sasha Robertson have made a bold move to consolidate their foothold in this exclusive enclave, paying $20 million for a vacant building block directly next door to their already record-setting home. The couple's growing Belongil portfolio is a strong signal that Australia's ultra-wealthy are doubling down on Byron Bay real estate as both a lifestyle statement and a long-term investment.
The $20 Million Block: What Gance and Robertson Have Acquired
The newly purchased parcel spans 1,083 square metres and sits directly adjacent to the couple's existing luxury residence on the Belongil Beach peninsula. The block offers an impressive 20 metres of direct beach frontage, along with sweeping views of the iconic Cape Byron Lighthouse, visible across the water from Wategos Beach. In a market where premium beachfront land is becoming increasingly scarce, this acquisition represents an extraordinary opportunity to either extend a private estate or develop one of the most breathtaking residential sites in the country.
The sellers, Rob and Andrew Gray — co-founders of Brisbane-based luxury developer Graya — are retaining the remainder of the cleared site, on which they plan to build. The Gray brothers are well known in the luxury development space, and their continued involvement in the Belongil precinct further underscores the area's credentials as a destination worth serious investment.
A Record-Breaking Foundation: The $33.5 Million Belongil Beach Home
This $20 million land purchase doesn't exist in isolation — it builds on what was already a landmark transaction in Australian coastal property history. Last year, Gance and Robertson made headlines when they purchased the neighbouring Belongil Beach property for $33.5 million, a figure that set a new record for Byron Bay residential real estate at the time. That acquisition alone signalled the couple's serious commitment to the area and established Belongil Beach as a serious contender alongside Wategos Beach and Broken Head as Byron Bay's most prestigious residential addresses.
Together, the two purchases represent a combined investment of approximately $53.5 million — a figure that speaks volumes about both the personal preferences of one of Australia's wealthiest families and the trajectory of Byron Bay's luxury property market.
Why Belongil Beach Is Attracting Australia's Richest Buyers
For years, Wategos Beach — Byron Bay's sheltered northern cove — held the crown as the area's most desirable address. But Belongil Beach is rapidly emerging as a serious rival, offering a different kind of appeal: longer stretches of natural, less developed coastline, greater privacy, and the sense of space that ultra-high-net-worth buyers increasingly crave.
Several factors are driving elite interest in Belongil specifically:
- Exclusivity and privacy: The peninsula's geography creates a natural buffer from the town's tourist foot traffic, offering seclusion that is almost impossible to find in Byron Bay's central precincts.
- Scarcity of beachfront land: Vacant beachfront blocks of this size are extraordinarily rare in Byron Bay. Once sold, they rarely return to market, making each transaction a genuine once-in-a-generation opportunity.
- Lifestyle prestige: The combination of direct beach access, lighthouse views, and proximity to Byron Bay's dining, wellness, and arts scene creates an unmatched lifestyle proposition.
- Capital growth potential: With record prices being set regularly and demand from wealthy interstate and international buyers showing no sign of slowing, Belongil Beach represents one of the strongest capital growth stories on the Australian east coast.
Damien Gance: The Billionaire Behind the Purchases
Damien Gance is not simply riding on the coattails of his family's pharmaceutical retail empire. He has carved out a significant professional profile in his own right, most recently making headlines when he sold a substantial parcel of shares in Sigma Healthcare — netting approximately $297 million in the process — following Chemist Warehouse's landmark merger with the ASX-listed company. That transaction alone cemented his status as one of Australia's wealthiest individuals and provided the financial firepower to pursue exactly the kind of trophy real estate plays now unfolding at Belongil Beach.
His wife, Sasha Robertson, brings her own entrepreneurial credentials to the partnership. Together, the couple represent a new generation of Australian wealth — one that is increasingly looking to Byron Bay not just as a holiday destination, but as a primary or secondary residence worthy of serious architectural and financial investment.
Byron Bay's Luxury Market Shows No Signs of Cooling
The broader Byron Bay property market continues to defy national trends of softening demand at the upper end. While many Australian capital cities have seen luxury markets cool in response to interest rate pressures and economic uncertainty, Byron Bay's beachfront and hinterland prestige segments remain resilient, fuelled by a constrained supply of premium land and relentless demand from Australia's wealthiest buyers.
With richlisters continuing to flock to Belongil Beach, and developers of Graya's calibre actively building in the precinct, the area is poised to produce some of the most architecturally significant and financially impressive residential projects Australia has ever seen. For those tracking the nation's luxury real estate market, all eyes are firmly fixed on this small, extraordinary peninsula just north of Byron Bay — where the next record sale may already be in the making.