Grollo Group aims high with $7m Mount Hotham Airport buy

Melbourne’s Grollo Group has purchased Australia’s highest airport, edging out a large Chinese shipping company to buy Mount Hotham Airport for a shade under $7m.

Grollo Group will aim to re-engage with airlines for Mount Hotham Airport.

Melbourne’s Grollo Group has purchased Australia’s highest alpine airport, edging out a large Chinese shipping company to buy the Mount Hotham Airport for a shade under $7m.

Subject to planning approval, the Grollo Group is looking to build affordable housing for both ski staff and skiers across the sprawling 110ha mountain-top site. All up, the airport soaks up about 40ha of the holding with the balance of the site unused land. The airport cost about $17.5m to develop in the late-1990s.

At present, Mount Hotham Airport does not have a commercial airline servicing it, but Grollo Group director Martin Ansell said he was keen to kickstart negotiations with major commercial airlines and private operators to restart aircraft and helicopter services, which ceased just before the onset of Covid in 2019.

Mount Hotham Airport’s vendor was New York-listed ski resorts owner and operator Vail Resorts, who purchased the resorts of Hotham and Falls Creek for $174m in 2019. But the airport was considered a non-core asset.

“With Vail’s assistance, we will re-engage with the airlines to work with carriers both commercial and private for this coming season,” Mr Ansell told The Australian on Monday.

Grollo said it would also investigate lengthening the existing airstrip if it made economic sense so that it could take larger aircraft.

The sale of Mount Hotham was negotiated by John Castran of Castran, who estimated the cost of developing the airport would today run to $40m to $60m.

Grollo Group has had major property development and investment interests in nearby Mount Buller dating back to the 1960s, as well as investment apartments in Falls Creek, Hotham and Dinner Plains. Its major developments include its White Horse and Kooroora projects at Mount Buller.

At present, a lot of ski staff are accommodated in the major ski centre of Hotham, displacing skiers and Grollo believes once new accommodation is built around the airport this will free up space for more skiers during the peak of the ski season.

Mr Castran said the expressions-of-interest campaign to sell the airport attracted 110 groups, with eight major parties showing keen interest.

Mount Hotham is about 5½ hours’ drive from Melbourne’s centre.

Originally published as Grollo Group aims high with $7m Mount Hotham Airport buy