President of Upper Hunter Show Inc, Keith Googe, confirmed the developer is evaluating the business potential of the site for possible purchase.

“The Committee is not getting too excited, but we hope there will be a decision in early 2016.

“What I can tell you is our agents have assisted the developer to facilitate the information the company requires.

Sandy Warburton, from John Flood Real Estate, said he can confirm a “multi-faceted Hunter Valley developer” has been undertaking an exclusive due diligence assessment of the showground site.

“This means they have had a period of exclusivity to undertake further investigations to see if the site is feasible to develop,” he said.

Mr Warburton said the 90-day exclusive period has just finished.

“The company has investigated the development costs, looked at the site and assessed possibilities to construct, lease, on-sell parts of the site, develop others and secure end users,” he said.

“Very soon we’ll receive an offer or they’ll come back to us and say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks, it’s not going to work’,” Mr Warburton said.

Expressions of Interest were called to sell the site, acquired in 1954, mid-way through 2014.

In January, the Chronicle was told the asking price for the site was in the order of $10 million.

“That $10 million figure was realistic then and we believe it still is because when it comes down to it we need to do what we need to do.

“If it’s not worth that then we are better off staying where we are because we are the custodians of the Showground and we’re not going into huge debt to develop a new site,” he said.

The showground site was rezoned several years ago from private recreation (RE2) to local centre (B2) and business development (B5).

Keith Googe said new headquarters for the Upper Hunter Show are yet to be finalised.

“There are two or three blocks on the western side of town in that 20 to 25 hectare size we have looked at in the past, but we haven’t got a particular site locked in at this stage,” he said.

Mr Googe told the Chronicle two of the sites are owned by mining companies and one is owned by a private landholder.

As for the next year’s Upper Hunter Regional Show, Keith Googe said it will be staged at the Maitland Street site.

“Yes, I can confirm the event will be held in mid-March at the Muswellbrook Showground and I can probably say the 2017 show will be held there, too.

“These are difficult times in the Upper Hunter and any big investments tend to progress very slowly.

“Even if we found a new location now it would take us 12 months or more to set up somewhere else.

“But we did it back in 1954 and we can do it again,” Mr Googe said.