Family-owned park sells to investors

A POPULAR Ocean Grove caravan park has changed hands for the first time in almost 40 years, with a property investment group to take over the site.

New South Wales-based Hampshire Property Group bought the 30-hectare, 328-site camping property from long-time owners Bill and Joan Steains this month for an undisclosed fee.

The freehold site at Ocean Grove’s south-east attracted unprecedented interest according to agents, who said its location and facilities attracted hundreds of expressions of interest in recent weeks.

Hampshire owns an extensive property portfolio across Australia, which includes retirement villages and holiday parks.

Hampshire CEO Frank Sharkey said the Ocean Grove site would remain a tourism destination following its takeover.

“We are very pleased to be able to acquire this exceptional holiday park. 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,” he said.

The sale marks the end of a near four-decade tenure for the park’s family owners Bill and Joan Steains, who first took over the park in 1985.

“Over the past 37 years we have worked hard to develop Collendina into the wonderful family park that it is today and we feel confident that the park will continue to grow from strength to strength under Hampshire’s ownership,” the couple said.

“While it will be hard for us to say goodbye to the lovely families in our park, we feel comforted knowing that Hampshire is the perfect fit and is keen to continue our legacy.”

The park’s selling agents, JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group, said it received more than 300 inquiries and 12 formal offers in a “highly competitive” process since the property was listed earlier this year.

“We have never experienced the level of enquiry as we did in this sale campaign,” JLL vice-president Nick MacFie said.

“The demand for caravan parks within Victoria is at an all-time high with us now having a number of disappointed under bidders who are seeking similar opportunities.”