REVEALED: Abandoned Cap Coast island resort finally for sale

Foreign investors eyeing off Capricorn Coast island with resort plans

Stunning views from Wild Duck Island. Picture: Contributed

IT WAS supposed to pump millions into the Central Queensland economy and attract visitors from around the world, but in 2015, the Wild Duck Island Eco Resort was abandoned.

Now, the owners of the stunning island off the Capricorn Coast have put the property up for sale - providing the perfect opportunity for someone to re-boot the already approved resort development, scale it back to something smaller or just create a private island oasis for themselves.

With a development approval for a 110 room accommodation resort, 25 existing partially completed two-bedroom bungalows constructed on the island along with an 800m runway, selling agent Richard Vanhoff of Australian Islands said interest in the property had recently ramped up significantly.

"It has had quite a large amount of interest and most of it is foreign," Mr Vanhoff said.

"I do have an inspection next week with an Australian which is good but I have received calls from Singapore and Malaysia which are topping the list of interest.

"We have one chap out of South Australia that has been down to see the island and has made an offer but the owners haven't accepted that at this stage."

Wild Duck Island off Capricorn Coast

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Mr Vanhoff said the owners of the island are aged in their 70s, ready to hand over the reins and are 'taking all offers'.

"The owners had it for near on 15 years and haven't done anything with it. It was originally to be developed as a resort and has 20-odd buildings that have never been completed, it has naturally fresh water on board, a small mountain with the greatest views ever over the water out towards Marble Island along with a 1km sandy beach," he said.

"The asking price is $4.5M but the owner is in his 70s now, is not going to do the development and has told me to just sell it so I'm taking all offers.

"Hopefully it will go soon to someone who can appreciate it and put a few dollars in it to develop it. It is 300 acres and it would be a mistake to leave it as it is now.

"It has all of its approvals and a development approval for a brand new resort on the higher side of the island. You could turn it into a resort or a private island for you and all of your friends.

"This island lease is for 75 years with 54 years to run and is renewable."

A look back in The Morning Bulletin archives revealed the details of the eco resort proposed for the island, which is located off Stanage Bay, about 19km east-south-east of Carmilla and 6km north-north-west of Long Island.

Plans lodged around 2007 spruiked Wild Duck Island as one of the last available islands for development in Queensland.

The proposed resort, which was officially approved in mid-2012, was set to include accommodation for over 300 people with plans for:

• 4 x premium 3-4 bedroom self contained units
• 53 x standard 1 bedroom units
• 53 x standard 2 bedroom units
• 12 x staff units
• 1 x central resort facilities including pool, gym, conference centre and day spa.

At the time, the forecast economic benefits of the development included:

• 700 direct construction jobs
• 400 jobs in building material manufacturing
• 200 jobs in industries that supply construction
• $34.6million in products to build the development
• Generate over $21.7M of employee earnings and a further $24.1M of corporate small business profits
• $100million in construction output generated by the Wild Duck Island Eco Resort will increase output elsewhere in the economy by over $187M

Originally published as REVEALED: Abandoned Cap Coast island resort finally for sale