Russell Crowe’s former island workplace yours for $38m
The stunning New Zealand island where Oscar winner Russell Crowe once toiled away as a hospitality worker could be yours for a cool $38 million.
The 24 hectare Pakatoa Island, just a 15 minute helicopter ride from Auckland, is one of the few islands open to private ownership in The Shaky Isles.
Surrounded by emerald green waters, the exclusive location features three gorgeous beaches, a nine-hole golf course, a helipad and a wharf capable of docking commercial ferries.
Crowe sometimes still sports his bingo caller’s look. Picture: Getty
The island is the size of a small town and is considered a “jewel in Auckland’s sea green crown” according to New Zealand’s biggest news website Stuff.
The island has had a varied life as a resort, a party HQ, a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics and a discreet holiday hideaway for current owner, leading Kiwi businessman John Ramsay and his family.
Pakatoa Island in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, New Zealand. Picture: supplied
Pakatoa Island sits in the Hauraki Gulf between Waiheke and Chamberlins Islands, 75 minutes by ferry from the mainland and features ageing resort-style accommodation, that boasts 62 bedrooms.
“An array of existing buildings has been held in a time warp, but is ready for new life,” the listing from seller’s agents Bayleys reads.
Oscar winner Russell Crowe once worked on Pakatoa Island. Picture: YouTube
Perfect, if you have a spare $38 million. Picture: YouTube
“With its beautiful white sand and crystal clear water, it really is a subtropical island just waiting for someone, or a group of people, to love it again.”
The investment opportunity for any potential buyer is a district plan that allows for five separate private lots to be established which could allow the island to be subdivided or even reimagined as a luxury resort.
The potential is there. Picture: YouTube
Long before he was General Maximus Decimus Meridius, Crowe was a humble bingo caller at the resort on Pakatoa Island, where he was employed as the director of entertainment.
Seller’s agent John Greenwood told Stuff he had been receiving “legitimate and serious inquiries” on the property, which is listed for NZ$40 million or A$37.65 million.
Ramsay, one of New Zealand’s richest businessmen, traditionally spends Christmas with his family on the sprawling island and isn’t keen on being bargained down.
But it needs some love.
“If someone wants to pay that [NZ$40 million], they can have it. Otherwise it stays there,” he told the New Zealand Herald.
For the record, Crowe, who has an estimated net worth of around US$100m (A$144 million) could now buy Pakatoa Island almost four times over.
This article from News Corp Australia Network originally appeared as “Pakatoa Island, Russell Crowe’s former workplace for sale for $38m”.
