Alceon Offloads Coastal Caravan Parks for $42m

Alceon Group has offloaded two coastal sites for $42 million to retirement community investment group Lincoln Place.

This was nearly double the price Alceon paid for the manufactured home estates at Tweed Heads and Sandstone Point just a few years ago.

The deal included the 4ha, 149-site Silver Shores Caravan Park just north of Brisbane, which was purchased by the group for $10.25 million in March, 2019.

Meanwhile, the adjoining Tweed Heads-Chinderah Lakes properties, totalling a combined 6.77ha and 225 sites, were purchased for $13.05 million in July 2020 .

“During the acquisition of the parks, Alceon identified that Sandstone Point and Tweed Heads were well occupied but had opportunities to improve through operational efficiencies,” Alceon said in a statement.

“The implementation of these efficiency measures resulted in a significant uplift in net revenue and, in turn, value.”

The sale was completed in October last year on a portfolio basis with three other parks owned by a partner group.

Lincoln Place is an Australian real estate fund manager which specialises in retirement communities and has 11 community projects in planning across NSW and Victoria.

There are 27 communities on the fund’s books, which it also operates once the developments are completed.

Meanwhile, the 3.75ha NRMA Agnes Water Holiday Park in Queensland recently hit the market with expectations of more than $25 million.

It is the latest in a string of caravan parks to go to market as institutional investors look to capitalise on the alternative asset class, traditionally favoured by mum-and-dad investors.

More than 100 leisure parks had been listed for sale at the end of 2021 marking a strong year of off-market transactions.