Hamilton Island to get new $13m hotel
The multi-billionaire Oatley family is planning to spruce up its Queensland island resort, following hard on the heels of other island resort redevelopment by investors such as the Chinese owners of Lindeman and Daydream islands, as well as Malaysia’s Mulpha Group on Hayman Island.
The Oatley family-owned Hamilton Island will sport a new hotel. An announcement yesterday says the family plans a $13 million, three-year redevelopment of its Palm Terrace Hotel.
“The Palm Terrace redevelopment will involve the construction of a new 84-room hotel that will be a family-based, four-star hotel overlooking Catseye Beach,” a spokeswoman for Hamilton Island Enterprises says.
Commercial Insights: Subscribe to receive the latest news and updates
“The redevelopment of the Palm Terrace hotel will assist Hamilton Island with meeting increased demand from the domestic market,” she says.
The hotel will be managed by Hamilton Island Enterprises.
Nearby, Malaysia’s Mulpha Group told The Australian last week it was spending more than $100 million redeveloping its cyclone-ravaged Hayman Island, one of the poshest resorts in Queensland. The British-based InterContinental Hotel Group signed a management deal to take over Hayman Island from the second quarter of next year, fending off several rival operators to win the plum management contract.
On Queensland’s Hayman Island, Mulpha plans to redevelop the 400ha island as one of the most luxurious lifestyle resorts in Australia, introducing an exclusive private beach house, a range of new penthouse suites and four exclusive townhouse-style private residences for sale or rent.
The 166-room Hayman Island was put up for sale following the loss of its operator One&Only and damage from Cyclone Debbie last year. After failing to sell, it is now set to reopen by the second quarter of 2019.
Intercontinental-run Hayman Island will have a new bar as well as Asian, Italian and contemporary Australian restaurants.
Meanwhile, the agents for Great Keppel Island, which is being sold by Terry Agnew’s Tower Holdings group because it failed to get a casino licence from the Queensland government, say five parties are interested in buying the resort that was put on the market earlier this year.
Tower Holdings purchased the resort, located off Yeppoon in central Queensland, for $16.5 million in 2006. It was closed two years later. Tower is selling its 162ha land holding, which encompasses the resort, marina and associated approvals to develop it further.
Daydream Island’s reopening has been delayed until later this year. Shanghai-based owner China Capital Investment Group is spending about $100 million fixing the cyclone ravaged resort.
Lindeman Island’s Chinese owner, the Whitehorse Australia Group, is spending millions upgrading the island, which is expected to reopen in 2022.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
