Emporio Apartments
The Lancaster Group entered the accommodation industry in 1984 with the purchase of a leasehold motel and camping ground in Paihia in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.
A small but busy tourist town, the motel enjoyed 100% occupancy over the summer months.
In 1986 the Lancaster Group went on to purchase a prime bare site in Whangarei and set about building the 16-unit Pembrooke Motor Lodge to meet corporate travellers’ needs. This motel was a great success and the group operated it for two years before a moving to Tauranga where it purchased some older, freehold motels and revamped them for the corporate and independent traveller market. The Lancaster Group continued to operate motels in into the early 1990s.
After a trip to Queensland in 1993 the Lancaster Group took an interest in a new type of business structure previously unseen in New Zealand. The management rights industry was already well established at that time in Queensland and Brisbane was beginning to stir with big development companies, such as Baulderstone Hornibrook, beginning to transform the CBD and riverside. In 1995, the Lancaster Group bought its first management rights business at Mactaggarts Place.
Built in 1926, Mactaggarts Woolstore was one of several stores at Teneriffe on Brisbane’s river. With the introduction of container shipping in the 1960s, this method of wool handling was phased out and the stores were no longer used. With the redevelopment, the entire wool store was made into a residential building with some of the building’s original wool baling equipment and structural materials displayed throughout the interiors as a reminder of the building’s history. Mactaggarts Woolstore was original, offering high-stud ceilings and modern interiors that appealed to inner city dwellers. The building contained 160 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
The Lancaster Group went on with then partners Paul and Penny Middlemiss to purchase the neighbouring management rights business, Goldsborough Place – a new building with 72 two- and three-bedroom apartments.
Both properties boasted river front views with quick and easy access to the city.
The two properties quickly became recognised in Brisbane as producing one of the highest capital gains for investors. Penny Middlemiss worked on a new type of corporate letting and by furnishing the apartments and working with some large companies in the New Farm area, owners were able to receive up to $200 per week extra income as a result.
The Gold Coast was next with another management rights business at Ocean Sands. This was a new 75-unit high rise development at Main Beach. It was purchased off-the-plan in partnership with another New Zealand couple Bill and Sheryle Sipson.
By this time New Zealand developers were following suit into management rights and the Lancaster Group purchased Brinkley Village Resort – a new 52-unit ski resort situated in Methven at the foot of the Mount Hutt ski field. The Lancaster Group went on to develop their own luxury 16-unit apartment complex in the coastal holiday town of Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula called Ocean Breeze. It then purchased the management rights to Stafford House in Wellington, two permanent let buildings in Auckland – The Landings Parnell in the CBD with 220 apartments in a twin tower complex while Somerset Apartments was a 70-unit apartment complex in residential St Lukes.
The Lancaster Group began to consult to parties interested in purchasing businesses in the management rights industry both in New Zealand and Australia. In 2006, the group acquired new management rights businesses in Australia to be run by new partnerships.
Scarborough Beach Resort just 30 minutes from Brisbane’s CBD on the beachside Redcliffe Peninsular. Due to the lack of accommodation in the area at that time and under the management of Jan McLoughlin and Ivor Loveridge, the business was very successful. A new property, Proximity Waterfront Apartments, has been recently purchased off-the-plan and is being managed by new partners Greg and Maree Johnson. This is a new 72-unit apartment block also in Redcliffe with nearly all apartments having water views. Then came Emporio Apartments at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.
In 2007 the management rights at Oceans Resort in Whitianga were secured.
Most recently, the Lancaster Group with partners has entered into New South Wales and has purchased two management rights business in Yamba at properties named The Sands and The Links. Yamba is a lovely beach side town, popular with holidaying Australians offering picturesque beaches and an abundance of seafood.
The Lancaster Group has enjoyed success in the accommodation industry over the last 25 years. Over time, it has seen the industry develop and become more competitive as a larger range of accommodation styles are on offer.
Jocelyn and Jim Lancaster, the couple behind the successful group, stress “A business owner now must not only be honest, reliable and hard working with common sense, practical know how and people skills but they must now more than ever be savvy with respect to marketing and sales. It is an exciting industry and the Lancaster Group endeavours to go on to savour what this growing and strengthening industry has to offer.”
A unique build in anyone’s book, Emporio Apartments is a one stop accommodating wonder situated in the heart of Maroochydore.
Blending together rental apartments, office space, shopping, restaurants, nightlife and cafes, this superb establishment is the only one of its kind across the Sunshine Coast. Each one neighbouring the other, seven stunning buildings line Emporio Place, the private street that structures the complex and creates a sense of community that is otherwise rare within the accommodation industry.
Within the complex itself, available only to its residents, Emporio is the exclusive home to a variety of stellar facilities. A private theatre that seats 20 people, a fully equipped gymnasium, a rooftop leisure deck decorated with barbecues and a stylish resort-style pool all exist on-site to offer residents the utmost luxury.
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