This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A RENOWNED local pastoral family has bought the Northern Territory’s Idracowra Station from billionaire Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
As previously reported by Australian Property Journal, the station was sold prior to auction. JLL’s Geoff Warriner and Chris Holgar handled the campaign which had a reserve price of $7 million.
They declined to comment on the sale price, but said it was well in excess of that figure. According to market sources, the station changed hands for around $10 million.
This is the second time the property has changed hands since 1952. Sheikh Hamad bought the station in 2007 for $7.55 million.
Located south of Alice Springs and covering a total land area of 462,800 hectares over a single pastoral lease. The 7,500 adult equivalent carrying capacity property was offered on a walk-in-walk-out basis including livestock of approximately 3,000 head of cattle and plant and equipment.
“This substantial landholding situated within the heart of central Australia generated significant levels of interest as it represented an efficient, low-cost pastoral enterprise enabling the supply of livestock to primarily southern (domestic) markets,” Holgar said.
Warriner said Idracowra’s proximity to the Stuart Hwy provided ease of access to Alice Springs and end-markets located to the south providing a logical addition to the purchasers existing holdings.
He added that despite the drought conditions, interest in rural property remains strong.
“What has been significant is that local buyers continue to be represented strongly in the current market. To me, this is sending a compelling message as to how sustainable the rural industry is, despite the persisting drought conditions,” he continued.
Warriner and Holgar sold Retreat Station in the Jundah region of Queensland for $20 million and earlier this year sold Northern Territory cattle operation Suplejack Station for $21 million at auction.
Following these transactions and the recent appointment of Clayton Smith to the JLL team (formerly Elders Goondiwindi), JLL will be continuing to expand in the Australian agribusiness sector.
