Gold Coast Eco Housing

The Gold Coast hinterland’s iconic Binna Burra eco-resort is set for its most important development in decades, with investors being offered a one-off chance to buy freehold residential property in a Queensland national park.

In a joint, $12 million project with Brisbane-based developer Casleyville, Binna Burra Lodge (BBL) will build four Sky Lodges next to the Lamington National Park eco-resort, housing 18 one-to-three bedroom luxury apartments, several of which already have been contracted off the plan to shareholders of the privately listed company.

The furnished, self-contained apartments, now selling for between $310,000 and $1.08 million, represent a new level of accommodation at the eco-resort, which has been an icon in nature-based regional tourism for more than 75 years.

Incorporating environmentally sensitive, solar-passive and energy efficient design, the lodge apartments will feature interior timber finishes and floors, stone walls, fireplaces, spas with private nature views and other mountain lodge-style luxuries.

Designed to reflect the history and exterior charm of the original lodge, built in 1933, they will have unrivalled views of the Numinbah and Coomera valleys and mountain escarpments.

The site is the only available pocket of freehold land in the 20,600ha national park.

Project manager and Casleyville director Tim Medhurst said the Sky Lodge development represented the ultimate green change investment opportunity, building on the Binna Burra Mountain Lodge’s perennial appeal as an eco-destination, a steady growth in regional inbound tourist numbers and average occupancy rates at the existing resort of more than 60 per cent.

The lodges will be sold as independent freehold title (under a community titles scheme), but will be managed, maintained and operated under a lease agreement with BBL, with owners receiving an equal, proportional return under a pooled investment arrangement. The properties will be available for use, rent-free, to owners for 28 days a year.

They are on the market with an average price, per sq metre, of $7250.

“Buyers can own part of Binna Burra and have piece of mind that when they are not there, the investment is managed and maintained as part of the Binna Burra Lodge accommodation range,” said Mr Medhurst.

“This is the first and only time that people will have an opportunity to buy freehold property within Binna Burra Lodge and the national park. There won’t be any more. The

southeast Queensland regional plan has made it almost impossible to happen in future.

“The look and the feel of the buildings matches the look and feel of Binna Burra Lodge, with the concrete and block construction faced with stone and hardwood. Inside, the lodges are very modern.

“Part of the attraction of these apartments is that we are adding a new level of accommodation to an existing facility. Binna Burra Lodge is an icon of tourism in southeast Queensland, but this is a new and improved level of accommodation which the market has been crying out for.”

He said the lodges would sell quickly and would be in demand from conference groups, families and nature-focused travellers.