Thomson Perrett key to sale of Moonah Links
Moonah Links Resort which boasts two Thomson Perrett designed courses was recently sold to a Chinese group. Thomson Perrett Managing Director Ross Perrett played a key role on the sale, utilising both his knowledge of the project and his network to help both parties achieve a successful outcome. Thomson Perrett has been engaged to be an ongoing consultant to the new owner.
Below is an article by John Stensholt and Nick Lenaghan that was published in the Australian Finanacial Review on 15 August 2015.
Handbury sells Moonah Links to Chinese developer
BRW Rich Lister Paddy Handbury has sold the top Mornington Peninsula golf resort, Moonah Links, to a private Chinese developer for about $18 million.
The championship golf venue, and The Sands Torquay, was put on the market more than a year ago by Mr Handbury, a nephew of media baron Rupert Murdoch.
A key intermediary in the Moonah Links deal was veteran architect Ross Perrett, who runs golf course design firm Thomson Perrett with champion golfer Peter Thomson.
Moonah Links, which has twice hosted the Australian Open, is nestled in the heart of the Mornington Peninsula food and wine district, not far from the upmarket seaside resort of Portsea.
The golf resort is spread over 238 hectares and includes the Legends course and the Open course, both designed by Thomson Perrett.
Moonah Links includes an 88-room Peppers hotel, with a conference and accommodation centre.
A 250-dwelling residential development on the estate is nearly sold out. But an additional 280-condominium project has only been partly developed.
CHINESE GROUP ACTIVE
Mr Perrett said the Chinese development group had been active in Melbourne and China for some years.
As well as the immediate development upside at Moonah Links, golf courses hold strong appeal for investors from China, where golf has become the latest target of the central government’s crackdown on corruption.
Mr Perrett has been to China many times to help design courses there and has also facilitated investment offshore into local fairways.
“The Chinese love golf with a passion. In all Asian countries it’s considered elite,” Mr Perrett said.
“We deal with a lot of Chinese, and Vietnamese, and people who come and are interested in investing here.”
Mr Handbury bought Moonah Links in 2004, adding it to the Torquay resort he was already developing.
With a course designed by Stuart Appleby, The Sands is set near the popular surf resort of Torquay, on Victoria’s south-west coast.
It includes a 112-room Peppers hotel. The Sands residential estate, with 400 dwellings and 150 townhouses, surrounds the resort.
There is another 4000-square-metre parcel of development land opposite the Torquay resort.