Tourism developers head north

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald says that with domestic travel figures showing some growth, property developers are heading to far north Queensland to escape the high costs of construction in NSW. 

The resources boom is also driving growth in the region, with Thakral and Mariner two of the latest groups to make waves in Cairns and Port Douglas.

Thakral has its Trilogy project in Cairns and is co-developing, with local developer Leigh Ratcliffe, the village square at its Argentea resort at Palm Cove.

Property developers say the high cost of construction in NSW and limited supply of large sites are forcing them to look to other states, with Queensland firmly on the radar.

The latest Midwood report says Cairns has shown strong dwelling approvals growth in the past 12 months, of about 62 per cent compared with the 12 months to June 2006.

The report says domestic tourism has recovered strongly since mid-2002 – it was up 2 per cent on a year ago – bringing new jobs and more people.

The growth was also evident in the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics release during the week which showed Queensland had quarterly growth of 3.1 per cent, compared with 1.3 per cent in NSW, while over the 12 months to March this year Queensland recorded the strongest growth at 9.5 per cent seasonally adjusted, against NSW’s 4.3 per cent.

To take advantage of the growth in tourism and population, Mariner is due to kick off its new EcoPoint Port Douglas tourist resort in the next month.

The 7.78 hectare approved tourist resort site was acquired with planning consents for $4.6 million by Mariner Land in June 2007 and forms part of Mariner’s coastal investment portfolio. After works the resort is forecast to be worth more than $40 million.

Mike Shaw, the director of Mariner Land, said that when it is finished the resort would become one of the investments in the Mariner Coastal Investment Fund.

The fund has investments in four tourist resorts on the east coast with a total value of $70 million.

“Mariner now manages six key coastal investment properties totalling over $105 million in value on 52.8 hectares of land through both MCIF and the Mariner Coastal Land Fund which holds investments in two Yamba coastal properties: the Blue Dolphin holiday resort development on 5.744 hectares and the Yamba Waters Caravan Park on 8.094 hectares,” Mr Shaw said.

Mariner Land Limited is developing the project in two stages over the next two years. Stage 1 is planned to open in May next year and Stage 2 in May 2009.

“The EcoPoint Port Douglas Resort will provide much-needed resort-style accommodation on one of the most spectacular coastal areas in Australia,” Mr Shaw said.

The EcoPoint Port Douglas resort will have 150 eco-friendly tourist villas, 80 in stage 1, 70 in stage 2. The resort will also have 130 caravan sites, and more than 5000 square metres of serviced camping grounds.

“There is significant opportunity in the Port Douglas area for new resort facilities,” Mr Shaw said.

“Port Douglas has experienced a significant decline in tourist park accommodation, with the number of parks expected to fall from five in 1995 to two by the end of this year, a total decline of in excess of 65 per cent of accommodation available in that time.”

Report by The Mole