Oceanfront caravan park sold to family-owned group after huge interest
An oceanfront caravan park in the popular Victorian surf town of Ocean Grove has attracted huge interest before selling to an Australian family-owned group.
The 30-hectare Collendina Caravan Park will continue to serve holiday makers after being acquired by the Hampshire Property Group.
Collendina, which was owned by owned by Bill and Joan Steains for almost four decades, sold for undisclosed price.
It is the latest tourist park acquisition by Hampshire, which operates a portfolio of holiday parks as well as independent living communities for people aged over 50 across Australia.
“We look forward to building on the magnificent work of the Steains family, continuing to serve existing annual holiday makers and introducing more Victorians to this wonderful holiday location,” Hampshire CEO Frank Sharkey said.
The caravan park has 328 sites and a track to the adjacent surf beach. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group vice president Nick MacFie said the caravan park attracted a diverse range of investor interest with more than 300 enquiries and 12 formal offers received.
“We have never experienced the level of enquiry as we did in this sale campaign,” Mr MacFie said.
“Given the outstanding attributes of the park, its enormous oceanfront land parcel and location at the gateway to Victoria’s surf coast, we were confident in a strong result; however this campaign exceeded all expectations.
“The demand for caravan parks within Victoria is at an all-time high with us now having a number of disappointed underbidders who are seeking similar opportunities.”
Located 1.5 hours from Melbourne and 30 minutes from Geelong, Collendina has 328 sites, two swimming pools, two tennis courts, a football oval, basketball court and a nine-hole golf course. It also has a ‘private’ track to the adjacent surf beach.
The Collendina Caravan Park occupies a 30-hectare oceanfront site. Picture: Supplied by JLL
The Steains, who owned Collendina for 37 years, said they felt confident the family park would continue to grow from strength to strength under Hampshire’s ownership.
“We are delighted that the difficult decision to sell our park has resulted in it being passed into the safe hands of Hampshire Property Group.
“While it will be hard for us to say goodbye to the lovely families in our park, we feel comforted knowing that Hampshire is the perfect fit and is keen to continue our legacy.”
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group managing director Peter Harper said a range of investors were targeting caravan parks.
“The caravan park sector has become increasingly institutionalised over the past few years with major groups raising and deploying significant volumes of capital for acquisitions and asset enhancement,” Mr Harper said.
“However, this sale also demonstrated the number of private owner-operators who are looking to expand from a single asset or further build on their existing portfolios.
“Parks that are well presented and situated on large land allotments remain highly sought-after and we anticipate the level of transaction activity that occurred last year to continue throughout 2022.”
Another oceanfront caravan park – the NRMA Agnes Water Holiday Park on Queensland’s northernmost surf beach – also sold recently in a deal handled by CBRE, although no details have been released. The holiday park, which sits on a large 35,700sqm block on the beachfront at Agnes Water, was also expected to attract strong interest.
