The owners of the one-time home of Club Med are taking advantage of the current demand for Queensland’s tropical islands by offering up Lindeman Island, which comes with 637 hectares of national park area and seven private beaches.
Having owned the island located in the Whitsundays for a decade, China-based White Horse group has decided to sell it with price expectation of more than $20 million.
Lindeman, like some of its neighbouring islands in the archipelago, has been closed since January 2012 after being flattened by Cyclone Yasi. It sits 15 kilometres from the popular Hamilton and Hayman Islands and is a 40-minute boat ride from Airlie Beach on the Queensland mainland.
Queensland’s islands have recently captured the attention of significant investors with Annie Cannon-Brookes, the wife of Atlassian founder and climate crusader Mike Cannon-Brookes, last week paying $24 million for Dunk Island in Far North Queensland.
But amid the sales, there remain many islands that have been closed for years after being battered by bad weather. The Queensland government is hoping the new rush of cash will breathe new life into the resorts as it get ready to showcase the state and its jewel, the Great Barrier Reef, when it hosts the 2032 Summer Olympic Games in Brisbane.
White Horse paid $12 million for the lease and created a masterplan for a variety of four to six-star accommodation offerings, with 325 villas, suites and apartments, an ecotourism education centre, a conference centre and an array of bars, restaurants and shops.
The local representative of White Horse, Michael Dawn said, it was regrettable to have to sell the island after ten years of ownership.
“White Horse has decided to divest Lindeman Island, despite having successfully completed the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) component of the redevelopment,” Dawn said.
“White Horse hopes that the new owner continues with its vision to redevelop this once great island resort and restore it to its former glory.”
Advisors to the sale, CBRE Hotels’ national director Wayne Bunz and associate director Hayley Manvell said the asset is one of 24 Queensland islands that are offering resort approvals.
Bunz said the offer comprises a perpetual leasehold and four long-term leases over 136-hectares of land which comes with the closed beachfront resort, golf course and an airstrip.
“The Whitsunday Region has been one of the most resilient markets through the pandemic and was recently recognised as the world’s second most loved tourist destination in 2022 by the Tourism Sentiment Index, highlighting the region’s robust tourist market,” Bunz said.
Aside from Dunk Island, other recent sales include Lizard Island to Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Tattarang; Long Island to Oscars Hotels and Hook Island to Meridian Australia, both in the Whitsundays region and the Elysian Retreat Long Island to Shayne Smyth, founder of Perle Ventures and travel insurance group Cover-More.
“The asset is essentially a blank canvas for an incoming investor, allowing them to follow the masterplan developed by the existing owner White Horse Group or undertake a smaller scale luxury redevelopment,” Manvell said.
Article source: www.commercialrealestate.com.au
