Island hot spot the Picnic Bay Hotel has sold to Kim Bredhauer and partners, bringing a mindset of social change to the Townsville paradise.
Poised a short ferry ride off the coast of Townsville, Magnetic Island counts less than 2,500 permanent residents, and is home to the Picnic Bay Hotel and Marlin Bar.
The Hotel, on Picnic Bay’s The Esplanade, sits on 1.1-ha, providing an indoor and outdoor restaurant, gaming area with Keno and TAB facilities and 20 EGMs, function centre, onsite and detached bottleshop, 23 motel rooms, swimming pool and owner’s accommodation.
And long-time owners Bill and Lorraine Carnell retained a five-metre crocodile in a pool beside the structure, named Rin Tin Tin.
The family were working on a new apartment resort development on the property, when tragically both Bill and Lorraine passed away in a short period in 2005, from cancer. The project was never finished and has been fenced off since.
Key family members looking to retirement engaged Knight Frank to market the asset in late 2020, offering the Hotel and adjoining land, Marlin Bar and restaurant in Horseshoe Bay and the detached bottle shop in Nelly Bay. Price expectations were around $10 million.
Dodging post-pandemic delays, it has sold and settled this month to Kim Bredhauer and family, and the Goicoechea family, who have been involved in local developments.
The Bredhauers, also including Lydia and sons Tristan and Philip, own and operate Townsville Brewing Co in the old post office. Kim Bredhauer is executive chairman of Palladium – a company that fosters “enduring social and economic value” by working with governments and entities for solutions paving “lasting social, environmental and financial benefits”.
The new owners are understood to be planning some capital improvements, flagging refurbishment of the assets’ existing qualities. They also plan to do the “right thing” by the community, including talking to locals about what is best done.
One certainty is that the hotel, bar and bottleshop will have available the award-winning spirits and beer made in their Townsville brewery and distillery.
PubTIC was unable to get further information from the buyers prior to publication.
The sale through Knight Frank’s Paul Dury and Mark Fitzgerald reportedly received overwhelming interest in a process that “exceeded any campaign that we have ever undertaken”.
“Multiple offers were submitted from both local and interstate investors and hoteliers,” relayed Fitzgerald.
“It was very pleasing that the successful bidders were business entities that have had a long association with Townsville and Magnetic island and will be looking to improve the assets and capitalise of the growing tourism and accommodation sector in Townsville.”
