Final piece of Brian Ray’s Port Douglas Bale dream sells for $750,000

The last 2.6-hectare block of land in Port Douglas that was due to be developed by the late Gold Coast property developer Brian Ray has been sold to a New Zealand developer.

The land sold under the hammer over the weekend for $750,000 following a campaign by Port Douglas agents Tony McGrath and Callum Jones of McGrath Real Estate.

McGrath told Property Observer there were two other local bidders.

The land, which is approved for the construction of 23 strata-titled villas or homes, was to form the third and final stage of Ray’s upmarket Niramaya Resort (formerly called Bale resort).

It includes a central lake, utilities, landscaping and roads.

The sales price equates to $33,000 per lot.

Stages one and two of Niramaya Resort have been previously completed.

The marketing material notes its listing was to finalise Bale Resorts Ltd holdings in Port Douglas.

The land was listed for sale in October last year.

Niramaya Resort  was developed by MFS Bale, a joint venture partnership of Brian Ray’s Ray Group and Queensland property and financial services business MFS (later re-named Octaviar).

MFS collapsed in January 2008 owing creditors $2.8 billion.

Brian Ray and his wife, Kathy, died when their plane crashed during a snowstorm about five kilometres from the Mount Hotham airport in July 2005.

The Bale land was sold as part of a portfolio of six Port Douglas properties that went to auction over the weekend.

A four-bedroom house at 16 Ti Tree Street sold for $420,000 under the hammer.