Nimbo Fork Lodge fetches $7m amid regional tourism lift

Nimbo Fork Lodge on the edge of the Kosciuszko National Park.

On the edge of the Kosciuszko National Park and well known for its fly fishing, Nimbo Fork Lodge has sold for around $7m to acquisitive local agricultural land holder Brendon Stoney.

The experiential lodge, home to the Three Blue Ducks Riverina food operation, was sold by the Walsh and Heggaton families, via an expression of interest campaign through HTL.

“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time with this unique property and popular accommodation and hospitality business, and are simply thrilled that someone with the same passion for the area, in the form of Brendon and his family, have now taken the reins,” said one of the vendors, Josh Walsh.

It is understood Mr Stoney, who has holdings spread from Gunadah to Young, plans to continue operating the Lodge as a boutique accommodation property.

Situated on a dramatic hillside covering 100 acres, a number of which enjoy deep waterfront access to the Tumut River, the up-market lodge draws strong patronage from around Australia and also abroad.

Nimbo Fork Lodge has sold for around $7m to acquisitive local agricultural land holder Brendon Stoney.

“Properties as unique and well presented as Nimbo is, particularly when considering the photogenically natural beauty of the location, are very high on the list of objectives for a growing class of experience-seeking traveller,” said marketing agent HTL Property managing director, Andrew Jolliffe.

“The interest in this and similar unique lodge-style assets we are currently managing the sale process for is invariably widespread and always robust,” Mr Jolliffe said.

The historic lodge is a boutique getaway offering a three-storey main house with five classic-style suites, a Three Blue Ducks restaurant, and six stand-alone riverside cottages that have recently been revamped.

The main lodge and cottages were built in 2007 by former Citibank executive and fishing enthusiast Chris Fehon in the style of the classic American New England architecture of Nantucket Island and Cape Cod.

The sale to Mr Stoney follows HTL’s recent sales of boutique experiential accommodation offerings including Eagle View Escape in the Blue Mountains, Estate Tuscany in the Hunter Valley and Q Station on Sydney Harbour.

It is understood the Estate Tuscany recently sold for around $10m to a Sydney investment fund which plans a major upgrade of parts of the estate.

The historic lodge is a boutique getaway offering a three-storey main house with five classic-style suites, a Three Blue Ducks restaurant, and six stand-alone riverside cottages.

Located in the heart of the Hunter Valley’s wine country in Pokolbin the 95,800sq m owner-occupied holding on a prime corner block includes a 140-seat restaurant, lounge bar, two corner shops and 38 accommodation units.

Financial documents reveal Estate Tuscany was 74 per cent occupied during the 2021 financial year, producing a $1.172m operational profit, considerably up on the $549,000 operational profit produced the year prior when the entire Hunter Valley region was hit with Covid-enforced lockdowns.

The vendors of Estate Tuscany were the Gregson family who had operated the property for the past twenty years.

“The buyer pool for regional accommodation has exploded in the past 12 months with not only domestic hotel funds and owner-operators seeking this class of asset, but also institutional investors and a new breed of ‘lifestyle investor’,” said HTL Property‘s Nic Simarro.