Former Queensland Contiki resort hits market for ‘bargain’ $15m
A Whitsunday Islands property which failed to sell three years ago is back on the market – with a price tag 25 percent lower this time around.
Long Island Resort, owned by private investor David Kingston, was marketed at $20 million back in 2016, but with a current asking price of $15 million and renewed investor interest in the Whitsundays market, it is expected to generate strong investor interest.
The Whitsundays region in Queensland’s north has seen a recent surge in developments and sales.
China Capital Investment Group is engaged in a $100 million refurbishment of nearby Daydream Island resort while the Intercontinental Hayman Island recently re-launched following another $100m refurbishment.
Hamilton island is undergoing a series of infrastructure improvements and Long Island’s Elysian Retreat, a boutique ten-room eco resort, opened this year following a major property renovation.
Long Island, a narrow nine-kilometre stretch of land, is the closest of the Whitsundays to the mainland and sits just seven kilometres east of Airlie Beach on the Great barrier Reef.
The 172-room resort was originally developed by Contiki, but Kingston has owned it for the past 20 years under his Ocean Hotels portfolio.
CBRE Hotels’ Wayne Bunz and Hayley Manvell have been engaged to sell the property, Manvell saying: “Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef islands are going through a period of resurgence, underpinned by $55 million in investment from the Queensland government to get the region’s resort sector back open and operating.
“Long Island Resort features mainland power and presents strong foundations for an incoming purchaser to redevelop and re-establish this once thriving island getaway and realise its true potential.”
Ocean Hotels has engaged PlusArchitecture to prepare plans for Long Island which include 44 luxury villas, a spa, a restaurant, lounge bar and an infinity pool overlooking Happy Bay. The sales agents argue Australia’s most successful recent island developments are smaller elite properties such as Qualia, Bedarra Island and Lord Howe Island’s Capella Lodge.
The Whitsunday region has seen a ten percent rise in international booking rates since its bounce back from the devastating Cyclone Debbie in 2017.
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