Perfect match in Suncoast syndicate

By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter

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Over the last six months, a syndicate called the Suncoast Resort Group has brought together a team of industry experts to acquire three management rights businesses, and they have expansion plans for the near future.

The properties they operate so far are the Coral Beach Noosa Resort and the Rimini Holiday Apartments, both in Noosaville, and the Atlantis Beachfront Resort in Marcoola. One of the partners, Tony Rossiter from Holmans Accounting, says the syndicate is the latest in the “matchmaking service” that he and financier Mike Phipps envisioned a dozen years ago.

“About 12 years ago Mike and I got together as a result of what we saw as a gap in the market,” Tony said.

“We wanted to assist individuals who were looking to manage a larger property and align them with individuals who had the capital to invest but did not want to manage it.

“So, we created TMC –Transaction Management Consultants. Provided it meets our criteria, we manage the transaction once we have identified an individual who wants to proceed on a particular property which is beyond their financial resources. Then we will look to assist them with identifying investors and managing the transaction right through to sett lement and beyond.”

Liam Kennedy and his partner Claire Markwell have been members of the Suncoast syndicate since its inception when, over a cold beer, Liam talked with his friend Paul Grant from Mike Phipps Finance about opportunities in management rights.

“I’ve been involved in management rights for about 18 years,” Liam said, “on the Sunshine Coast and on North Stradbroke Island which is where I’m from.

“I left the industry for a while to run a real estate agency. Claire was working inside our holiday business, but we realised that we missed management rights.

“I invited Paul to have a beer just to have a chat about what opportunities might be out there for us because we had a lot of our money put into other businesses. I said I couldn’t go out and buy a management rights business myself but missed running them. Paul went away and jumped straight on the blower. Within days he came back and said a few people were keen to jump on board and work with us.

“He told me to go out and start looking for properties and we did.”

Liam and Claire live at the Coral Beach Noosa Resort and also run Rimini, a few hundred metres away.

Idyllic Coral Beach

Noosa Resort offers a family-friendly, affordable escape close to the beautiful Noosa River.

When Liam and Claire first viewed the resort, admittedly they instantly saw its full potential and envisaged how much they could improve the property and add value to the business.

Furthermore, the manager’s unit was a perfect size for them, and the location was outstanding, so the decision was made.

“At Coral Beach, we look after 47 townhouses, a mix of two and three bedrooms,” Liam told us.

“Located in Robert Street, Noosaville, just off Gympie Terrace. It’s a great location because it’s not on a busy street but still a nice flat walk to everything in Noosaville.

“Coral Beach has been around a long time, about 30 years, it’s an older building so it’s very spacious and it’s been very well maintained by the body corporate. In fact, the body corporate is fantastic.

“Coral Beach has a range of amazing facilities to suit the whole family. It has three swimming pools (one of them heated) three heated spas, as well as a couple of saunas.

“It’s also got a full-size tennis court that has recently been resurfaced.”

The Coral Beach townhouses are fully self-contained and set within more than a hectare of landscaped tropical gardens that Liam and Claire carefully tend to.

Liam said: “We have cleaned up the gardens and are working with body corporate to plant out more garden beds. We are also in the middle of renovating the front fence and redoing the logo.”

The property is close to the beautiful foreshore parklands and bike pathways lining the Noosa River, and the restaurants, boutiques, and cafes along Gympie Terrace.

Liam said he placed great importance on building strong relationships with unit owners and bodies corporate, and strong connections with his guests.

“I make an effort to call my owners regularly while Claire is really good at the front office property management systems,” he said.

“We took over Rimini on December 1, last year, and then Coral Beach on December 22, so we took on the challenge of two new properties just before Christmas!”

Rimini is a boutique property off ering 20 self-contained, selfcatering holiday apartments, each featuring either one or two bedrooms. All the apartments are located on the first and second floors.

The Suncoast syndicate also took over the management of Atlantis Marcoola Sunshine Coast on May 3 this year.

Atlantis is situated between Coolum and Maroochydore on 14 kilometres of one of the Sunshine Coast’s most pristine beaches. There are just 71 steps to the beachfront, and the property off ers everything from studio apartments to three-bedroom luxury apartments and stunning rooftop accommodation.

For 13 years the management rights there were owned and operated by Eric van Meurs, a former President of ARAMA, and one of the Suncoast syndicate members.

Mick Metcalfe, Eric’s right-hand man at Atlantis for fi ve years, is now the onsite manager.

“This has been a wonderful transition,” Eric said.

“The operation of Atlantis stays the same, the owners know everybody, but what we