Leasehold of Temple Island retreat sells for just under $1m at auction

A stunning island retreat on the Great Barrier Reef has sold under the hammer for less than an average house in many city suburbs.

Temple Island near Mackay in central Queensland.

A private island retreat on the Great Barrier Reef has a new owner after selling under the hammer well under its original asking price … and for less than the average home in many city suburbs.

The 8.7ha 30-year leasehold on Temple Island, 3km off Cape Palmerston National Park on the central Queensland coast, has its own 1100m private airstrip and a renovated four-bedroom home on the 50ha island’s highest point. It was up for auction in May at the Ray White One Group Springfield auction room.

The auctioneer was Phill Broom and we understand it was bought by an Airlie Beach local for a family retreat. According to sources at the auction it sold for just under $1m. Private Islands Online Richard Vanhoff refused to comment but the property was originally marketed for $1.75m and before the auction the word was that the owner Hamish Henry just “wants to move it”.

Henry, who is now in his 70s, was a rock promoter during the 1960s and 1970s.

Temple Island retreat sold for under $1m.

Man with a plan

Jayson Blight of Blight Rayner has won another award.

The Blight-designed Jubilee Place in Fortitude Valley – developed by John Livingstone’s JGL Properties – was one of 12 developments selected as winners of the recent 2024 ULI Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence, which we hear is one of the real estate industry’s most prestigious honours.

Away from the Jubilee Place/hotel project, Blight (illustrated) and his team recently celebrated the opening of the National Rugby Training Centre at Herston.

They are also behind the yet to be delivered and highly anticipated $186m Queensland Performing Arts Centre which is due to open in 2026 after a four-year delay.

Jubilee Place – which has a stack of awards – wasn’t the only development in Brisbane recognised in the ULI Asia Pacific awards.

The Upper House apartment tower in South Brisbane, developed by Aria and designed by Sydney-based Koichi Takada Architects, was also named in the top 12.

Jayson Blight in the lobby of Jubilee Place.

Closures

With residential construction starts well down, there has been quite a bit of talk around the traps about CBRE closing its residential projects operation in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

CBRE started the process in 2023 when its residential projects operations were nationalised, with the main base in Sydney.

The smaller offices in Brisbane and the Gold Coast were closed in May and June this year respectively, but the agency says it continues to provide ongoing services to clients and purchasers for all existing projects from Sydney.

Nic Clydsdale, CBRE’s senior director for the Gold Coast, has with CBRE’s support set up a new agency to continue to provide new sales services to clients.

However, things remain dire in the construction industry.

In May the Housing Industry Association forecast that 19,710 detached homes will start construction in Queensland in 2023-24, down by 10 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of multi-unit dwellings forecast to commence construction in Queensland in 2023-24 is a reduction of 12.9 per cent.