A Super buy at $40m

ONE of the Sunshine Coast's largest beachfront properties has been bought by the former owner of retail giant Super A-Mart.

The Seahaven Resort overlooking Laguna Bay with a direct frontage to Noosa Main Beach. Picture: PHOTOS John Mccutcheon

ONE of the Sunshine Coast's largest beachfront properties has been bought by the former owner of retail giant Super A-Mart.

Unison Projects, an investment company owned by John Van Lieshout, is believed to have paid more than $40 million for the Seahaven Resort that has a 100-metre frontage to both Noosa Main Beach and Hastings St.

The purchase puts to rest an ambitious bid by Blue Sky Capital to develop the planned $250 million Firstlight Noosa.

Plans included demolishing the resort and replacing it with 20 resort-style properties.

Jonathan Levy of Unison Projects said it would be business as usual with staff and management transferring across with the new ownership.

"Seahaven Resort enjoys absolute beachfront accommodation overlooking beautiful Laguna Bay right in the heart of famous Hastings St," he said.

Unison Projects will spend the next six months determining the nature of renovations.

The sale price, thought to be just above $40 million, appears great buying when compared with the $120 million Blue Sky Capital is reported to have contracted to buy the resort from owners, the Melbourne-based The Carter Group and the Sydney-based Callaghan family.

Blue Sky Capital forfeited a $20 million deposit when it withdrew despite gaining council approval for its redevelopment plans.

"We won't be entertaining a similar development," Mr Levy said.

Unison Projects has been extremely active since the global

financial crisis, investing the $500 million proceeds of Mr Van Lieshout's sale of Super A-Mart.

It has also bought the Kawana Homemaker Centre on the Sunshine Coast, Thiess Tower, Home Zone Retail and a Park Road office building in Brisbane as well as Centro Southport on the Gold Coast and four development sites.

Mr Levy said rather than the current market representing easy pickings for cashed-up buyers, it was a very tough time to make decisions on value with prices coming off a very high base.

He said while Unison was confident with what it was doing, it always paid to doubt incomes and to ensure that you could survive worst-case outcomes.

He saw no short-term relief from present market conditions with few evident triggers to change.

Originally published as A Super buy at $40m