Future for Ibis Budget Coffs Harbour revealed
There is a DA for a nine-storey apartment tower with nearly 100 apartments.
Peter Holmes
April 24, 2026
The new owner of the Ibis Budget motel in Coffs Harbour will continue operating the property as is, despite the sale including a DA for a nine-storey mixed development.
Sold off-market, the site was bought by Sydney-based motel investor Iqbal Singh.
Location, location: The 70-room motel - operated by accommodation giant Accor under the Ibis brand - is set on a 3,205-square-metre block on the Pacific Highway and comes with a pool and breakfast room.
It is at the entry-level end of the motel market. A single room for next Friday night (May 1) on a flexible rate with breakfast included is $108.
An artist impression of the nine-storey tower. Image: Supplied.
The Ibis Budget Coffs Harbour was sold by Iris Capital, which owns numerous hospitality venues in Australia including pubs, hotels and casinos.
Accor sell-off: Iris Capital had bought the Coffs Harbour property in 2021 as part of a suite of 17 Accor motels.
A campaign by hotel brokers JLL in 2023 to sell the Ibis Budget Coffs Harbour on behalf of Iris Capital ended without a new buyer. “We couldn’t quite get there,” Greg Jeloudev, JLL Senior Vice President, Hotels & Hospitality, told the Mid North Coaster.
The motel remained off the market, however in 2026 a new buyer emerged in the form of Iqbal Singh, and a deal was signed off on last week.
High occupancy: Jeloudev said he was unable to disclose the sale price, but that it set a record for a regional Ibis motel. Asked what the previous record was, he said he was not at liberty to reveal, but that the Coffs Harbour motel had “a very sharp yield”. In a LinkedIn post he said the occupancy rate was 84 percent.
The breakfast room at the Ibis Budget Coffs Harbour. Image: Supplied.
The motel was sold with vacant possession, meaning Singh is free to rebrand the property, or demolish it with a view to constructing a nine-storey tower with nearly 100 apartments, parking and retail.
As of Friday afternoon the Iris Capital website was still listing the Ibis Budget in Coffs Harbour as one of its properties. A webpage with artist impressions of the nine-storey block states: “Coming soon - luxury residential development.”
Despite this webpage on the former owner’s site, new owner Iqbal Singh is in no rush to demolish Ibis Budget Coffs Harbour and build a residential tower.
However, Jeloudev said Singh - who he described as a “private bloke” - was in no rush to develop the site.