Hook Island Owner Files Cyclone-Proof Resort Plan

As disastrous weather again batters the region, a Whitsunday Island’s owners have revealed plans for a $40-million cyclone-proof resort it hopes to get under way by the middle of this year.

Sydney hotelier Glenn Piper announced his Epochal Hotels planned to build on Hook Island a few years after acquiring the 25-year leasehold for the 9.3ha holding in the Great Barrier Reef archipelago.

A consortium lead by Epochal has now filed a Luxury Frontiers-designed scheme, comprising 39 cabins, two restaurants, pools, wellness spaces, adventure activities and an arrival pavilion, with the Whitsunday Regional Council.

Piper said that the plan had alway been to restore the island closed since 2013.

Previous owners Bauenort received state funding in 2021 to demolish 10 buildings and take 225 tonnes of waste off the island.

This has handed Epochal a blank slate, with Piper telling media “that was a real benefit”.

“We are the only island that has that opportunity to start from scratch and use all of those technologies so we create resilient structures which are also very eco-friendly,” he said.

“This project has been a labour of love; we’ve poured our hearts into blending thoughtful design with a profound respect for the island’s heritage and delicate ecosystem.”

▲ Epochal Hotels chief executive Glenn Piper: We are the only island that has that opportunity to start from scratch.

Piper, who owns Meriden Australia, purchased the leasehold for an undisclosed sum, however it had a market value of between $10 million and $12 million at the time. The leasehold  includes more than a kilometre of water frontage.

In 2011 the resort on the island was damaged by Cyclone Yasi. It was damanged again in 2013 by another cyclone and closed, before being among islands devastated by Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

The island was part of a massive sell-off across the Whitsundays that included South Molle, Lindeman, Dunk, Lizard and Long islands after 2020.

Meanwhile there is also movement with plans, sales and big dreams for North Curtis, Great Keppel and Double islands.

Epochal owns and operates seven hospitality, dining and accommodation properties on the East Coast of Australia from the Whitsundays to Manly Beach, McMahons Point, Freshwater, Scarborough and Merewether.