The Hampshire Property Group has added the 30ha Collendina Caravan Park on Victoria’s Surf Coast to its portfolio for an undisclosed sum.
The caravan park has been owned and operated by the Steains family for the past 40 years.
The park is 1.5 hours from Melbourne and 30 minutes from Geelong. It has 328 caravan sites, two tennis courts, two swimming pools, a football oval, a basketball court, a track to the surf beach and an informal nine-hole golf course.
Developers and investors have been eyeing caravan parks as an alternative asset class as border closures forced Australians to take more domestic holidays and developers look to grow their land lease portfolios.
The boom in property prices and landlocked city markets have also made alternative asset classes more attractive.
While revenue for many parks decreased by as much as 30 per cent during the pandemic, investors are betting on more Australians continuing to travel domestically as the cost of living increases after the RBA rate rise last week.
The surge of interest and capital allowed owners to cash in at a time when funds may be scarce, with around 104 parks for sale in December.
Hampshire Property Group chief executive Frank Sharkey did not put forward any plans for developing the site.
“We are very pleased to be able to acquire this exceptional holiday park,” Sharkey said.
“We look forward to building on the magnificent work of the Steains family, continuing to serve existing annual holiday makers and introducing more Victorians to this wonderful holiday location.”
Hampshire Property Group is a family-owned business with a track record of acquiring caravan parks across Australia.
It currently operates 20 holiday parks in NSW, Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria.
It also has several retirement living communities in Western Australia, South Australia, the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria.
Some developers have bought up caravan parks to redevelop as resorts or to create more permanent communities with affordable and manufactured or prefabricated housing.
Such plans have met with local protest, such as Coogee Beach in Western Australia where the G’Day Group is proposing a $10-million beachfront development.
