Fitzroy Island Resort for sale: Wave of investor interest in island life heads north
The wave of investor interest in Queensland islands could hit a new peak with a 4.3 hectare resort hitting the market with price expectations of $30 million.
The property, 30 kilometres east of Cairns and in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, is the only resort on the island, which is mainly national park.
Australia’s greatest islands
Fitzroy Island Resort has a beach frontage of more than 400 metres. Photo: Supplied
Agency Resort Brokers Australia will market the tourism business, perpetual leasehold and associated development opportunities in a six-week expressions-of-interest campaign starting on Monday.
Darwin-based property developer Doug Gamble, whose family company also owns the Crocosaurus Cove tourist attraction in Darwin, bought the island property in 2010, as a partially-built resort, for about $9 million.
Swimming with crocs at Doug Gamble’s Crocosaurus Cove, Darwin. Photo: Tourism NT
Previous owner Joshua Hunt had planned a $100 million project but fell victim to the global financial crisis credit squeeze, The Australian Financial Review reported in 2016.
In the past six years, the Gamble family have developed the resort to include a 102-room, 4.5-star resort hotel, food and beverage outlets, conference and wedding venues, leisure facilities, a diving shop leased to an outside operator a general store and mooring facilities. It has been operating since 2011.
“This is a rare and valuable tourism asset in one of the most desirable destinations on the planet, so we can expect substantial interest from both local and international buyers including large hotel operators and investors,” says agent Trudy Crooks, of Resort Brokers Australia.
Included in the resort sale is the 190-seat high-speed catamaran ferry service, the Fitzroy Flyer, which operates three services a day and packaged day tours from Cairns. It takes 45 minutes to travel by ferry to the island.
Fitzroy Island Resort – pool and ocean views in 2009. Photo: Supplied
Fitzroy Island Resort also comes with development approvals and plans for up to 75 more rooms and extensive infrastructure including a spring to supply water, a dam and pipeline on the title, sewage treatment and power plants, and staff accommodation.
Mr Gamble’s Fitzroy Island Investments also holds a 20-year lease over the adjacent Cairns Regional Council Campgrounds, which is in the early stages of development.
The two-hectare campgrounds plus the resort and adjacent properties constitute all available commercial land on Fitzroy Island – all controlled by the vendor, Ms Crooks says.
There are interim options and agreements held for additional projects including a helipad and accommodation near the island’s historical lighthouse.
“Due to some loose ends that need to be finalised, these projects and the campgrounds operation are not yet included in the sale, however the vendor is prepared to offer the purchaser an option to add these components when they are market-ready,” she says.
Fitzroy Island Resort has a 440-metre frontage to Welcome Beach, on the north-western edge of the island.
Many Queensland island resorts are already in the process of redevelopment. Also, in August, the Queensland government announced a plan to rejuvenate rundown island resorts on the Great Barrier Reef.
“We’re seeing a new wave of investor interest including the redevelopment of Hayman, planned expansion of Hamilton, and redevelopments on Daydream, Lindeman and Brampton islands,” Ms Crooks says.
“But while that activity is happening in central Queensland, Fitzroy Island Resort is the only island opportunity in Queensland’s tropical north, with proximity and easy access to the major international gateway of Cairns Airport.”
She says the property is already generating a steady and growing income, projected to exceed $2.7 million in the 2016-17 financial year.
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