Kimberley beachfront eco resort with own airstrip hits the market
An environmentally friendly luxury resort built right on the beach, about an hour from Broome in WA’s Kimberley region, has been listed for sale for the first time since it was developed by entrepreneur Karl Plunkett.
Price expectations are above $25 million for Eco Beach Resort, which Mr Plunkett began building 26 years ago, when he discovered an idyllic fishing spot overlooking the Indian Ocean as a Kimberley tour guide.
“I set out to build a full-on eco resort, powered off the grid that recycled everything,” Mr Plunkett told The Australian Financial Review.
“We were an eco resort, before there were eco resorts,” he said.
Since then, Mr Plunkett has twice developed the seven-hectare freehold site after the initial resort was destroyed by a cyclone in 2000.
Seeking to rebuild, and keep costs down, he came up with the idea to develop a “village of lightweight, demountable structures, ranging from tents to modules and gazebos.”
This formed the foundation for Mr Plunkett’s Eco Structures, which now designs and builds glamping facilities for resorts in Australia and around the world.
“These are tents that start at $20,000 and go up to $500,000,” he explained.
At Eco Beach Resort, Mr Plunkett has developed 57 eco-friendly tents, villas, and beach houses, complemented by a restaurant and an infinity pool that offers one of the best ocean views in Western Australia.
He also built a 1.4-kilometre airstrip roughly five years ago, which means the resort is only a short flight from Broome by chartered plane or helicopter.
Regular guests include INXS band member Andrew Farris, who had his honeymoon at Eco Beach 10 years ago. “He comes back every October. He likes to strum his guitar on the beach,” Mr Plunkett said.
Apart from its remote location and spectacular ocean and outback surroundings, a unique aspect of the resort is its location just 10 metres from the beach.
Changes to WA planning laws mean that another resort could not be built this close to the shore, anywhere along the state’s coastline.
Previously a leasehold property, Mr Plunkett and his fellow investors succeeded this year in acquiring the freehold title (the airstrip is a 21-year leasehold).
Eco Beach Resort comes to market amid a global boom in the development of eco-friendly resorts, which have low carbon footprints, use recycled materials and are operated in a highly sustainable fashion.
In Australia, the first 1 Hotel – one of the world’s most sustainable luxury hotel brands – is under construction and due to open next year on the banks of Melbourne’s Yarra River, while in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne there are plans to develop the country’s first Six Senses resort and spa at the historic Burnham Beeches estate.
While he has enjoyed “an amazing 25 years” developing and operating the resort, Mr Plunkett said it was time to pass it on to a larger brand and team that could take it to the next level.
“As a solo operator of the resort and through my business manufacturing glamping tents, I’m aware how much the premium nature-based tourism sector has evolved over the past decade and half,” he said,
Mr Plunkett has appointed Tom Butler, Kieran Ellis and Harry Bahr from Nash Advisory to secure a buyer for the resort.
Mr Butler said it was likely to appeal to a high net worth type or the likes of G’Day Group – operator of Discovery Parks – which owns other Kimberley-based resorts such as Lake Argyle Resort and the El Questro Resort.
