Double Island demise: How things got so bad on Benny Wu’s ghost resort
Keanu Reeves once agreed to rent out Double Island for a whole week if its owner built a him a beautiful glass-fronted gym. How the tables have turned.
Cairns
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KEANU Reeves once rented out Double Island for a whole week on the proviso that its then-owner first build him an expansive glass-fronted gym.
It was a request the wealthy web tycoon was only too happy to oblige.
Those were the big money years and Sean Howard had just recently made a motza selling internet service provider OzEmail for a cool $520 million in 1999.
He had money to burn and kept the Double Island staffed and equipped to the absolute highest standard — losing money all the while, but having fun while doing it.
How the tables have turned.
Mr Howard sold his interests for $5.68 million in 2012 to current owner Fortune Island Holding Company, led by Chinese multi-millionaire Benny Wu.
Time, neglect and the unforgiving tropical island climate have taken a toll on facilities during the ensuing years — and one harsh reality has become impossible to ignore.
Palm Cove businessman Tony Richards, whose company once submitted an unsuccessful $600,000 tender to take over the resort, said it could never be profitable unless a critical piece of mainland infrastructure was built.
He urged the state government to commit funds to a masterplan for the proposed Palm Cove harbour project — a public-private partnership that would become a catalyst for further investment.
“Double Island can never develop and operate until Palm Cove has a safe harbour,” he said.
“With all the potential developments post-COVID that government at all levels are looking to stimulate growth and jobs, this would have to be obvious.
“Most of the ingredients are in their basket and basically ‘shovel ready’ to go.”
The Cairns Post has unsuccessfully tried to contact Mr Wu or representatives of Fortune Island Holding Company.
Double trouble
1978
Island Developments Pty Ltd becomes the first company to lease Double Island
1987
Australia’s first billionaire, Robert Holmes a Court, buys the island resort rights and uses it as a private getaway
1998
Janet Holmes a Court sells Double Island to a local group for about $3.2 million almost a decade after her husband dies
2000
Owners go into receivership, claiming to have invested about $10 million, leaving the door open to OzEmail mogul Sean Howard for $4.5 million
2013
Double Island changes hands after Mr Howard contracts encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. Fortune Island Holding Company, led by Benny Wu, takes over for $5.68 million
2017
Cairns Regional Council inspections uncover neglect, unauthorised clearing and a non-permitted solar farm
2019
Council inspectors visit the island again and find rubbish piling up, moorings deteriorated to the point of being useless, and no prospect of tourism activities at the site
Originally published as Double Island demise: How things got so bad on Benny Wu’s ghost resort
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