Hayman Island on the market for $300 million
So Hayman Island is up for sale.
Mulpha, the island’s Malaysian owners, hit hard by Cyclone Debbie, have put the Queensland tourism destination on the market.
The asking price: $300 million.
The resort was closed for renovations until mid-2018 following damage caused by Cyclone Debbie. It will remain closed until the new owners sort out the scope of the refurbishment.
The 160-room resort recently lost its high-profile luxury Middle Eastern operator One & Only.
One & Only had committed to the island in 2014 following an $80 million facelift, but after the cyclone, Mulpha and the operator came to an agreement that One & Only would no longer be managing it.
The island is now being offered up to potential buyers.
Veteran Queensland real estate agent Dan McVay, of McVay Real Estate, is managing the sale.
Whoever buys it will need lots of cash. Mulpha had acquired Hayman Island as part of a package of four hotels and islands from the Principal Hotel Group in 2004 and with the extensive wind and water damage from Cyclone Debbie in March, it will require up to $80 million worth of repairs.
There has been all sorts of speculation that the billionaire Oatley family, owners of Hamilton Island nearby, might be prospective buyers to develop Hayman Island another high-end resort similar to the Oatley’s opulent Qualia resort. But the Oatley family isn’t saying anything.
Mulpha also needs to find an operator to replace One & Only.
The management rights to Mulpha’s four key Australian tourist properties: Hayman, the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney, Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, and the Rydges Esplanade Cairns Resort have also been tendered out.
With the rise in the arrival of Asian tourists to Queensland and tourist arrivals from China rising 20 per cent in the past year, Hayman Island could draw all sorts of international interest.
Shangri-la, Accor, Marriott, Four Seasons and Singapore’s luxury Alila Group, which operates resorts in Bali, Java, India, Oman and China have all inspected Hayman Island.
by Leon Gettler, July 14th 2017
