Sydney Hotelier Buys Hook Island Lodge in Whitsundays

Interest in hotels and tourism-related assets within reach of the Great Barrier Reef is continuing to run hot with Sydney hotelier Glenn Piper buying the Hook Island Lodge leasehold. 

The 9.3ha site is on the southern side of the island overlooking Hooks Passage and the Great Barrier Reef.

Its market value has been estimated at between $10 million and $12 million. 

The property’s rooms and underwater observatory were damaged by Cyclone Yasi in 2011, and it has been closed since 2013.

The-then leaseholder, Melbourne-based former theatre owner David Marriner, sold it to Queensland businessman Glenn Dickson in 2015 before it was damage again, this time by Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

Dickson cleaned up the site with help from the $25-million Great Barrier Reef Island Resorts Rejuvenation Program before filing plans for 50 villas as part of a luxury resort, glamping site or daytripper destination.

CBRE Hotels team director Tom Gisbon said Dickson’s aim was always to finalise development approval and then sell. 

“The owner is a private high-net-worth individual with lots of experience of works around the Great Barrier Reef,” Gibson said.

“His venture was always to acquire the site, clean it up and get approvals for the area—and then exit.”

New owner Piper is planning a $20-million “barefoot luxury resort” on the island. 

“Very few locations in the world can offer this level of natural wonder,” Piper said. 

“I want to create an experience that befits the beauty of the island and the Whitsundays—respectfully and sustainably.”

▲ New owner Glenn Piper bought the Q Station Hotel at Sydney's North Head last year.

Piper, who owns Meriden Australia, purchased the leasehold with its more than a kilometre of water frontage for an undisclosed sum after an international expressions-of-interest campaign run by CBRE Hotels. 

The campaign had more than 150 enquiries from hoteliers, investors, and food and beverage operators. 

“The fact that Hook Island Lodge went under offer in the very first week of a public expressions of interest process, highlights the confidence experienced operators have in our tourism market,” Gibson said.

This is Piper’s third acquisition this year—he purchased Newcastle’s Beach Hotel in Merewether for around $40 million and the leasehold for North Head’s Q Station Hotel in Sydney. 

He bought the Harbord Hotel in Sydney in 2020 for $40 million.

A slew of resorts and other properties in the Whitsundays have been damaged by cyclones in the past decade or so with some never rebuilt, including the South Molle and Club Med on Lindeman Island. 

The Hook Island transaction comes as interest in the Whitsundays and other areas around the Great Barrier Reef continues to run high.

Capircorn Sands site hits the block

▲ The Capricorn Sands site has development approval and is currently up for sale.

Champergram owner and wine-buyer Gillian Sheila Nicol along with Henry James Nicol’s Moondaze have put up the 33,000sq m Capricorn Sands site up for sale via Savills. 

The site is a double beachfront site at Lot 5, Tanby Point, Emu Park with views of the Great Keppel Island group. It is a 30-minute drive from Rockhampton Airport and a 40-minute flight from Brisbane. 

The nearby marina also provides a ferry service to Great Keppel Island, which boasts 17 secluded beaches.

The site has development approval for 201 residential houses, more than 3000sq m of retail and commercial space and an unrestricted commercial hotel liquor license. 

It was last sold for $5.9 million in 2007 to Moondaze by Werner Heinzle and was valued at $960,000 in 2020.

Savills’ Queensland directors Gregory Woods and Daniel Pepper said the site was near golf courses and the marina, and also had trunk infrastructure such as power, water and internet, in place. 

“The business case for Capricorn Sands is compelling with its year-round temperate climate and a unique approval for a mix of commercial, tourism and residential development,” Woods said.

“The site certainly lends itself to further concept development input for a possible increase in site coverage.”

The expressions-of-interest campaign closes on June 22.