For sale – $ 12m private paradise island
Wealthy British businessman’s South Pacific hideaway is on the market, giving a rare opportunity to buy into Fiji
Timed nicely to coincide with the approaching holiday period, an entire tropical island off the coast of Fiji with luxury accommodation facilities and significant tourism development potential, is being sold.
The island of Nananu- i- cake ( pronounced Nananu- e- thake) 1km off the northern coast of Viti Levu, is being offered with its five beaches and a satellite islet for $ 12,275,000.
The island, which is ready for immediate occupation, is a 35- minute helicopter flight or a 2.5 hour drive from Nadi International Airport and less than three hours’ drive from Fiji’s capital, Suva followed by a short boat trip, says master agent Rick Kermode of Knight Frank, Auckland.
‘‘ Tourism in Fiji is still its highest earner and there are limited freehold island opportunities in the right locations,’’ Kermode says.
‘‘ Only about eight per cent of the land in Fiji is freehold so it goes without saying, that there are very few freehold islands.’’
Kermode says Nananu- i- cake has been a private estate since 1974, but it has all the right factors for someone to develop it into a tourism hospitality centre.
‘‘ There is a growing and very lucrative global business in renting or leasing out private islands to the rich and famous, and to high net worth individuals or to corporations for senior executive working retreats.
‘‘ Celebrities and high profile people will pay an extraordinary amount of money for beauty, peace and above all, privacy.’’
Kermode, who was born and raised in Fiji, helped Australian actor Mel Gibson buy Fiji’s Mago Island with the intent of achieving absolute privacy in a pristine environment. ‘‘ Actors Robert Redford and Sandra Bullock are visitors to private Fijian resorts and the Rolling Stones also stayed at a private Fijian island, where guitarist Keith Richards famously fell from a coconut tree,’’ he says.
The property covers about 240ha, but its exact size is subject to survey.
‘‘ Its size, topography and orientation offer good locations for small boutique resorts and villa sites,’’ Kermode says. ‘‘ As an example, this has been done on the island of Wakaya which has an exclusive resort
‘ Such well located, secluded and highly private freehold islands are very rare’.
plus a number of freehold homes.’’
He says the island is on the drier side of Viti Levu, where the islands benefit from an excellent year- round climate and is only about 1km from the ferry terminal of Ellington Wharf.
‘‘ This makes any guest transfers quick and easy, and is also a big advantage when it comes to transporting construction materials and fittings for further development.’’
Kermode says the sheltered western bay of Nananu- i- cake is ideal for the anchorage of large boats and for engaging in water sports.
‘‘ And the reefs on the eastern and northern sides offer great diving and fishing.’’
The main residential facility on the island is an architecturally- designed four bedroom house, with two additional guest ‘‘ bure’’ bedroom suites.
The main complex also has a library, large open plan living room and dining room, a barbecue dining bure, laundry and swimming pool.
‘‘ The main residential complex was designed by Murray Cockburn, a well- known and highly respected Fiji, Ellerslie and Queenstown architect. This magnificent property sits on top of one of the highest points on the island with panoramic 360 degree views over neighbouring Nananu- i- ra, the South Pacific Ocean and the highlands of Viti Levu.’’
Kermode says the property is well established with access tracks for horse trekking and well defined roads to all its five beaches.
Included in the sale are staff quarters, horses and stables, ample paddocks for horses and sheep, as well as stock, boats, Jeeps, generators, satellite and telecommunication facilities, a fresh water supply and 1.36 million litres of water storage and a sheltered jetty.
Extensive landscaped gardens have been developed near the buildings but most of the island still maintains its natural tropical vegetation, including groves of mango trees lining some of the trails.
The island also has some pine forest with harvest potential.
‘‘ A 1.5km concrete drive leaves the jetty and winds through some beautiful native bush and an avenue of mango trees on its way to the main house on the summit,’’ Kermode says.
On the way it passes sheep and horse paddocks containing fresh water drinking supplies for stock.
Fresh water trickles from a spring into a small man made dam on the southern side of the island. The water flows from the bank during wet and dry seasons, and is pumped to the storage tanks.
‘‘ There is a helicopter pad metres from the main dwellings, ensuring easy access to and from Nadi Air- port,’’ Kermode says.
The water depth at the end of the 110m jetty is about 5m at low tide. As the winds blow mostly from the east or southeast, the jetty is sheltered at most times.
The island and islet were bought as a retreat by Sir Harold Mitchell, who visited Fiji from Britain.
Sir Harold was vice- chairman of the Conservative Party during Sir Winston Churchill’s time in power, and his many company directorships included the New Zealand and Australian Land Company.
His global social and political standing led to several high profile dignitaries visiting and staying on the island, and commemorative trees were planted to mark these visits.
‘‘ Sir Harold took a keen interest in his gardens, and the landscaping he created around the main house on Nananu- i- cake exists largely unchanged to this day,’’ Kermode says.
‘‘ Such well located, secluded and highly private freehold islands are very rare, particularly with all infrastructure in place for immediate occupation or further development.’’
Kermode, who has sold and leased more than 225ha on Fiji’s islands since entering the real estate business in 1996, is the son of Sir Ron Kermode, the first elected Speaker of the House of Representatives when Fiji became independent in 1970.
Sir Ron was later the Acting Chief Justice of Fiji.
The Kermode family has been extensively involved in the development of the Fijian tourist industry and Rick Kermode mainly focuses on commercial real estate — leasing and selling, industrial, retail, hospitality and office premises.
He has represented Fiji as an athlete at two Commonwealth Games and two South Pacific Games.