Perfect match sought for luxury wedding venue with 10-year lease

Luxury Gold Coast wedding venue Kwila Lodge is on the market, with a 10-year lease an added incentive for investors to walk down the aisle.

The five-star events centre with on-site accommodation has drawn interest from across the country during an expressions of interest campaign with Kollosche commercial agents Tony and Adam Grbcic.

Kwila Lodge co-owners Ruggie Ridgeway and Amanda Appel. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Kwila Lodge is currently co-owned and managed by Amanda Appel, whose family is behind another wedding and event venue, The Bower Estate in the Gold Coast Hinterland.

Ms Appel acquired Kwila Lodge, formerly known as the Eco Studio Fellini, in January 2003 and teamed up with Ruggie Ridgeway, of restaurant and hospitality group The Ridgeway Group, to transform the historic property.

More than $2m was spent on improving the land parcel and refurbishing the main lodge and multiple outbuildings in a project that took six months to complete.

The venue was refurbished over a six-month period. Picture: Glenn Hampson

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“We had been operating The Bower Estate for some years, and listening to people’s feedback, we found there were a few common denominators,” Ms Appel said.

“People wanted a venue with more infrastructure on site and in closer proximity to the city. When the Fellini estate came on the market, we knew it was exactly the opportunity we had been looking for and set about creating a sister offering to The Bower Estate.”

The refurbishment was sympathetic to the property’s historical significance to the area as an old dairy.

The historic homestead

“Our vision was to retain the essence of the original dairy, so when people walk in they feel that connection to the past,” Ms Appel said.

“There are some beautiful historic venues around Australia, but the Gold Coast doesn’t really have anything like that, so it was our chance to offer something different to the area. There is certainly nothing else like it.”

Adam Grbcic said the addition of a new 10-year lease with annual rent increases added to the attractive land value of a 16,200 sqm freehold parcel at 5 Boomerang Road, Mudgeeraba.

The new owner would further benefit from rare approval to operate as a “tourist facility” in a stunning location just 12km from Burleigh Heads and on the doorstep of Springbrook National Park.

A bar inside the main lodge

Kwila Lodge consists of the original 1923 homestead and attached function room with a commercial-grade kitchen and bar accommodating up to 160 guests for a seated event, or 250 for a cocktail reception.

There’s also loft-style accommodation sleeping up to four people, plus four separate one and two-bedroom studios, set amid manicured grounds with a private lake.

DA approval has also been granted for further accommodation to be built on the site and the main accommodation building has an approved license to operate a restaurant.

Ms Appel said the decision to sell had been, “an emotional journey”, following 12 months of successful operation with weekly event bookings.

“But we figured that if we sell it, it gives us back some equity and frees us up should we want to take on another project.

“That is the real driver — the business is successful, we believe in it, and we might want to do something again if we find the right property,” she said.

The property comprises event spaces as well as accommodation

Adam Grbcic said Kwila Lodge was a rare offering for an investor seeking a “low-risk, high return asset” to add to their portfolio in a fail-safe industry.

“Ms Appel has taken what was a very rundown site and turned it into one of the best and most successful wedding venues on the Gold Coast,” Mr Grbcic said.

“As the future tenant and an established events operator, she will have a vested interest in maintaining the property and ensuring that it continues to succeed, which is highly appealing for an incoming owner.

“They will also have the benefit of a guaranteed income for the coming decade, with a three per cent annual rent increase built into the lease, alongside an extremely rare approved tourist facility zoning, which opens the property up to a range of future uses.”

Expressions of interest close August 22.

Bushland surroundings