The industry body put its headquarters, which is located on the corner of Cimitiere and Charles streets across from the redeveloped C. H. Smith building, up for sale in May. It was sold with vacant possession.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association board members will meet on August 17 to start the relocation process, president Wayne Johnston said.

“We’re not moving straight away, we’re here for six months,” he said.

The redevelopment of the area around TFGA House, a need for more space to accommodate up to 12 staff and the fact the association does not need to be located within the CBD prompted the sale.

“Location is good, [but] we don’t have to be in the middle of town for the business that we do and we’ve got some ongoing dollars that had to be spent on the building [because] it’s not fit for purpose for staff at the moment,” Mr Johnston said.

“The C. H. Smith building going ahead was the catalyst for us to say what is this building worth. The board made a decision to test the market, and if we got a price that we thought was really good then we would contemplate selling – and we got it.”

The association board will develop a strategy around buying another building that fits its needs better, or building something new.

“We had a robust discussion about it, we understood the history that it was purchased by the farmers, for the farmers. The next building will be exactly the same.”

TFGA House has been the association’s home for more than 30 years.

The building spans two levels and a basement, with a double-street frontage.