Cairns Covid-19: Ghassan Aboud to revisit ‘best use’ of Port Douglas marina development
Billionaire developer Ghassan Aboud has shared his thoughts on a high-profile Far North waterfront development.
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BILLIONAIRE investor Ghassan Aboud remains a “tremendous supporter of Port Douglas” despite freezing his $250m waterfront redevelopment.
Crystalbrook Collection chief executive officer Geoff York said his Syrian-based boss was revisiting options at the superyacht marina but hasn’t pulled development plans completely off the table.
The company intended to build the Far North’s first six-star hotel in the seaside village before Covid-19 hit.
“We originally had two hotels planned but we are now investigating if that’s really the best use of the site,” he said.
“Ghassan remains a tremendous supporter of Port Douglas and the Far North and he would have been over here five times over if not for the closure of international borders.
“He still has aspirations to do a redevelopment.”
Mr York said the marina operation remained a solid business for the company but the spectacular location meant a development of some scale was likely.
“It’s fantastic, it’s right on the water,” he said.
“The marina itself is a good business, we don’t want to change that, we just want to add to it and enhance the site.
“But really it’s just Covid that has given us cause to pause plans, and we need to wait and see where this takes all takes us.
“We are still a big supporter of Port Douglas and the whole region.”
Mr York expected domestic tourism to be strong once Australia reaches its vaccination target and then the company’s attention would swing to getting better international access to Cairns.
Mr Aboud’s concerns over direct overseas flights to the Far North was a key driver in his decision to stop progress on the $250 million Port Douglas resort.
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Originally published as Cairns Covid-19: Ghassan Aboud to revisit ‘best use’ of Port Douglas marina development
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