Caravan park near Byron Bay sold for record $50m-plus
The growing demand for more affordable holiday accommodation amid a cost-of-living crisis has fuelled the record sale of a caravan and holiday park near Hastings Point on the NSW Tweed Coast.
The North Star Holiday Resort, which offers 25 luxury villas, 27 cabins and 75 powered camping sites as well as a host of amenities on a 10-hectare waterfront site, was purchased for more than $50 million by private equity-backed operator Tasman Holiday Parks.
While the exact purchase price was not disclosed – the vendors were long-time owners and operators the Beadel family – selling agents from Ray White Commercial said it had eclipsed the previous record holiday park sale, the $50 million purchase of the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort in 2017 by ASX-listed Ingenia Communities.
Property records show Tasman Holiday Parks paid $30.6 million for the freehold property at 1-3 Tweed Coast Road. A separate undisclosed price was negotiated for the business and onsite amenities.
Alongside its array of accommodation offerings – from budget to luxury – the North Star resort includes an adventure lagoon water park, licensed café and marine discovery centre. The resort is 45 kilometres north of Byron Bay and 50km south of Surfers Paradise.
It is the latest in a series of big money deals in the rapidly corporatising holiday and caravan park sector, which has enjoyed a strong resurgence in bookings and revenue since recovering from the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 and then the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the freehold to the NRMA Agnes Water Holiday Park north of Bundaberg was purchased for $27.5 million by Queensland-based investors Gary and Rosemary Kratzmann, former owners of Kratzmann Caravans.
Also in 2022, the country’s biggest owner-operator, G’Day Group, paid about $30 million for the picturesque and remote Lake Argyle Resort in WA’s Kimberley region.
With the ability to book a powered camp site for less than $50 a night (that can host a whole family), plus a whole range of accommodation options appealing to different budgets, holiday and caravan parks have grown in popularity as mortgage repayments, grocery bills and energy costs have surged.
The increasing number of Australians buying caravans and tents to explore their own regions as part of a domestic-led tourism recovery has also helped drive up demand for holiday cabins and camping sites.
A “Road 2 a Million” campaign and competition put together by the Caravan Industry Association of Australia last summer, aimed at encouraging regional travel, generated 367,000 nights of accommodation bookings between October 1, 2023 and February 28, 2024 at the 1300 caravan and holiday parks that participated in the promotion.
Alongside Sunsuper-backed G’Day Group, which owns a $1 billion-plus holiday park portfolio including Discovery Parks, Tasman Holiday Parks has built a $500 million-plus portfolio after spending over $300 million on acquisitions since riding out the pandemic.
Tasman Holiday Parks is backed by local private equity firm Tasman Capital. Its acquisition of the North Star resort bolts onto a portfolio of 4700 cabins and sites across more than 40 properties.
“Our acquisition of North Star represents a strategic investment to enhance and expand a resort renowned for setting industry benchmarks and fostering community ties,” said Nikki Milne, chief executive of Tasman Holiday Parks.
The sale of the North Star Holiday Resort was brokered by RWC Burleigh Group agents Ryan Langham and Nathan Huxham on behalf of Diana Beadel and her late husband Ian, who had owned and operated the resort for four decades.
“The record-breaking sales price reflects the enduring appeal and value of premium hospitality assets,” Mr Langham said.