Fragrance Group boss believed to have bought Aussie island for A$5.5m

TASMANIA (June 6): The chief executive and founder of Fragrance Group, Koh Wee Meng is believed to have bought a A$5.5 million (RM16 million) freehold private island off the north-east coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania, according to a recent report by The Straits Times.

The boss of the Fragrance chain of hotels plans to use the island, complete with an airstrip, lighthouse, jetty and colonial-style homestead, as a private retreat before it is developed into an eco-tourism project.

The 287ha island — named Waterhouse Island after an early 19th-century British naval captain — is about 1km wide and 4.5km long.

It has a history of farming, especially the rearing of sheep, with more than 106ha declared a conservation area in 2011 by the state authorities.

The island has a permanent power supply and mobile phone reception despite its remote location and is accessible by boat or plane.

The island also comes with a three-bedroom homestead as well as a cottage guesthouse and a shed that was previously used for shearing sheep.

The Straits Times reported that for the past 45 years, it was owned by a family who used it for holidays.

Ant Manton, a Tasmanian real estate agent who handled the deal, said the island that it is the sale of Waterhouse Island said the sale was probably the largest freehold island off Tasmania that has transacted in at least the past decade.

Ant Manton, a Tasmanian real estate agent who handled the deal, said the sale of Waterhouse Island was probably the state’s largest freehold island transaction in at least the past decade.

As at March 31, Fragrance Group owns seven properties in Hobart, Melbourne and Perth, which includes the Premier Tower — a 78-storey skyscraper in the heart of Melbourne which will have 780 apartments and a 175-room boutique hotel when it is completed.

The Straits Times noted that Tasmania is believed to be surrounded by more than 4,000 islands and rocky outcrops but only nine are freehold.

“Purchases of islands in Australia have often been considered the luxury of tycoons, celebrities, multimillionaires and lottery winners, though relatively affordable islands occasionally come up for sale,” it said.

Among some of the islands that were recently put on the market include Elizabeth Island, a small low-lying island near Melbourne; and The Duke Group Archipelago, a set of three islands off the state of Queensland which was listed for about A$12 million.

Do not ask your taxi driver about the value of your home. Go to The Edge Reference Price to find out.