Mission Beach Resort Back on the Market

A tropical Queensland resort has been relisted for sale after Covid-induced border closures forced the family behind it to take it off the market.

The Neville-Smiths family from Melbourne has put Castaways Resort and Spa south of Cairns back on the block, for circa $12 million.

The resort was first listed in September, 2021 for $20 million before the border closures cruelled the sale.

The property has 200m of beachfront on the 14km-long Mission Beach, 90 minutes south of Cairns. 

The resort is in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef and near the Family Islands.

The resort has 46 rooms, the recently expanded Buko Restaurant and other resort-style facilities. There is development approval in place to add another 44 rooms. 

JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group is handling the sale.

▲ Castaways Resort and Spa on Mission Beach has 200m of beachfront.

JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group executive vice-president Adam Bury said beachfront properties rarely came up for sale.   

“Northern Queensland has some of Australia’s best beaches and most spectacular scenery, but such opportunities, with absolute beach frontage, are rarely traded,” Bury said. 

“We believe this is a generational opportunity to acquire a one-off resort that will undoubtedly benefit from the Golden Decade we are to witness across Queensland off the back of the 2032 Olympics.”

Queensland has seen massive investment in infrastructure with the airports at Cairns and Brisbane being expanded ahead of predicted increases in tourism arrivals during the next decade. 

Investment in Mission Beach of late includes a new marine facility allowing more accessibility to the reef and outer islands. 

The Neville-Smith family made its fortune from hardwood processing.

They had hoped to take advantage of the rush in September 2021 to buy property in far north Queensland and the Whitsunday Islands but failed to sell the resort for $20 million when the borders closed. 

They currently own one of Tasmania’s largest forestry operations.

Investment in Australian tourism assets has been tipped to ramp up as borders open, with overseas interests leading the charge.

Screen Queensland has studios in Mission Beach, making the resort an attractive proposition for investors as a potential accommodation option for film cast and crew. 

The property is open to international expressions of interest.