This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
VILLAGE Roadshow’s theme parks division has offered a blockbuster 154 hectares of land on the Gold Coast to the market – taking in several iconic tourist sites – hoping to reap $100 million as it looks to reduce debt.
The land includes Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast, Paradise Country, Australian Outback Spectacular and Village Roadshow Studios, as well as the under construction national-first Topgolf venue and a site approved for a nine-storey hotel.
The mass media and entertainment group’s proposal includes a commencing rent of $6.2 million from January 1st, 2018, with an initial lease term of 30 years with six 10-year options, and 3% annual rent reviews.
Colliers International is marketing the landholding via expressions of interest closing on October 26th.
John Marasco of Colliers said a completed sale is expected by the end of the year.
“There is nothing like this investment opportunity currently available in Australia. We expect interest from institutions, trusts and high net worth individuals worldwide, and are expecting offers in the region of $100 million,” he said.
Village Roadshow Theme Parks draws more than five million local and overseas visitors annually to its parks and attractions.
“The offer is for a substantial landholding with an experienced operator in the midst of strong underlying economic, population and tourist growth projections for the region,” Marasco said.
Village Roadshow’s theme parks division chief executive officer, Clark Kirby, said the sale and leaseback would unlock the value in the land assets, allowing Village Roadshow to pay down debt and free up capital for growth initiatives such as Topgolf.
Also on the Gold Coast, Ardent Leisure is looking into development options for some 25 hectares of land it owns around its Dreamworld theme park, which was hit by a fatal tragedy in October last year.
Ardent closed the park for 45 days and incurred a $94.9 million writedown in property, plant and equipment charges and other costs. Last month, it posted an annual net loss of $62.557 million, a fall of more than $104 million from the previous year’s $32.387 million profit.
Australian Property Journal
