This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RICH listers with spare cash looking to own their own island now have a chance to snap up a resort in the Whitsunday.
Wayne Bunz and Hayley Manvell of CBRE Hotels with Christie Leet of PRD Nationwide Airlie Beach have been appointed to market the Long Island Resort along with Club Crocodile Airlie Beach Resort.
Long Island Resort comprises approximately 8ha of land in the Whitsunday Islands – part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. Long Island is the closest island from the mainland, only 7km off the Queensland coastline.
Originally developed by Contiki, the island resort has been owned by Ocean Hotels for the past 20 years. Long Island closed in February 2015 ahead of a proposed renovation. The resort offers accommodation across 172 rooms and recreational facilities including two swimming pools, a tennis court, helipad, restaurant and bar, café, spa, gift shop, function room, mini-golf, boat moorings and 41 staff lodging rooms.
Manvell said the owner has made the decision to sell the asset with vacant possession, citing the desire to focus on other business interests including a major expansion of the Cairns-based Sunlover Reef Cruises business.
“Significant capital has been expended over the years on substantial infrastructure including mainland power, which is a rarity for islands and has resulted in substantially lower operating costs.
“Long Island presents strong foundations for an incoming purchaser to refurbish, rebrand and re-establish this once thriving island getaway and promote its absolute beachfront rooms or, alternatively, to redevelop the asset,” Manvell said.
Manvell said a new owner could take the island to its next stage, as there is development approval for an additional 162 guest rooms.
“Opportunities for expansion could also involve repositioning the asset and increasing operating scale in line with other, ultra-premium resorts such as Qualia, Hamilton Island and One&Only Hayman Island, or along the very successful Hamilton island model, where private ownership of villas and vacant land could be offered,” Manvell said.
Also up for sale, and available in one line with Long Island or individually, is the iconic mainland resort of Club Crocodile Airlie Beach. This 3.5 star resort features 161 rooms on a large freehold site close to the beachfront and Abell Point Marina. The resort underwent a $1.3 million refurbishment of the guest rooms between 2014/15, with 75 rooms presenting ‘as new’ including new bathrooms.
Bunz said the campaign provides an outstanding opportunity for a buyer to acquire the properties for substantially below replacement cost.
“We are expecting wide ranging interest in both Long Island and Club Crocodile Airlie Beach from cashed up Asian buyers through to high net worth individuals, hotel chains and domestic investors looking to buy the assets via a syndicate.
“Off the back of recent sales by CBRE Hotels, including Daydream Island to China Capital Investment Group and Lindeman Island to Whitehorse Holdings, we are very confident of considerable interest in both assets,” Bunz added.
Manvell noted that CBRE had been involved in a number of recent Australian hotel transactions involving offshore investors and have been inundated with enquiries for leisure assets, particularly from mainland China.
“Investors are looking to enter key leisure markets and capitalise on their potential for further growth, particularly in light of the softening Australian dollar, which is creating favourable market conditions for the local tourism market,” Manvell said.
Leet said the region had been the subject of renewed investor interest with a surge in development site sales and substantial growth in accommodation performance over the past 18 months, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“Tourism demand in the Whitsundays has had a strong rebound with airport arrivals reaching record levels, noting that the Whitsunday Coast airport is now Australia’s fastest growing airport,” Leet said.
Australian Property Journal
