$15 MILLION DEAL: Hervey Bay oceanfront resort has changed hands

The oceanfront Hervey Bay resort changed in a deal worth about $15 million.

CHANGING HANDS: Oceanfront resort Oceans Resort and Spa Hervey Bay has changed hands this week in a deal worth about $15 million. The resort has now been named Oaks Resort & Spa Hervey Bay. Picture: Contributed

TWO landmark oceanfront resorts on the Fraser Coast and Sunshine Coast changed hands on Wednesday with the settlement of separate blue-chip management rights sales for a total of close to $15 million.

Specialist agency Resort Brokers confirmed the multi-million dollar sales of Oceans Resort and Spa Hervey Bay and Rumba Resort Caloundra, both handled by Sunshine Coast broker Glenn Millar.

Global hotel group Minor Hotels has bought the rights to the Hervey Bay resort from Oceans Queensland, a leading private operator associated with the former managing director of channels Nine, Seven and Ten, Gary Rice.

The final sale price was not disclosed.

The seven-storey, 128-unit complex on Charlton Esplanade will be operated under Minor Hotels' Oaks Hotels & Resorts division, as Oaks Resort & Spa Hervey Bay.

It is the second time Mr Millar has sold the management rights to the prime property, which was originally launched in 2007 as Peppers Pier Resort.

"I had previously handled the sale from Mantra Group to Oceans Queensland in 2014, so I knew the complex intimately and am pleased to now see it pass to top flight operators Oaks and Minor Hotels," Mr Millar said.

"Resort Brokers has had a long association with Minor Hotels and has been closely involved in their expansion in Australia through a number of significant acquisitions here in Queensland, on the Gold Coast and in Melbourne.

"The Hervey Bay complex is an exceptional hotel-style property and the management agreements are such that it can operate as a full service resort with an exceptional range of recreation, spa, conference and hospitality facilities on site," he said.

Gary Rice's Oceans Queensland, also the former operator of Landmark Mooloolaba, Oceans Mooloolaba and The Rise Noosa, still runs the upscale Breeze Mooloolaba Resort.

At Caloundra, the award-winning Rumba Resort has been bought by SC Resort Management, headed by former On The Beach Noosa operators, Benn and Leslie Wilson.

The price paid for the rights to the 5-star beachfront resort and associated real estate was also not disclosed.

The property was sold through Resort Brokers by Village Management Corporation, associated with high profile Sunshine Coast business and tourism industry identity, Bill Darby, in partnership with Bob Buckland and Mark Hall.

Mr Millar said the appetite for quality, large-scale resort management rights was strong, particularly on the Fraser Coast and Sunshine Coast where major infrastructure investment and a thriving visitor economy were driving demand.

Originally published as $15 MILLION DEAL: Hervey Bay oceanfront resort has changed hands