Pelican Boat Hire Noosaville Changes Hands

 Pelican Boat Hire Noosaville Changes Hands

One of the Noosa region’s longest trading businesses, Pelican Boat Hire and its associated leasehold, has changed hands in a deal struck by Ray White Commercial Noosa & Sunshine Coast North.

The Pelican Boat Hire Business, which has traded for more than 50 years from the site featuring the iconic Big Pelican, was sold for an undisclosed sum following an Expression of Interest campaign by John Petralia of Ray White Commercial Noosa & Sunshine Coast.

John Petralia said the locally based purchasers of the property at 180 Gympie Terrace, Noosaville, had a strong attachment to the area and the Noosa River.

“The previous owners were ready to retire and had been looking for the right party to take over the reins for more than 12 months,” he said.

“With long standing employees and a solid business reputation, they wanted the business to pass on to new owners with similar values.”

John Petralia said the previous marketing campaigns for Pelican Boat Hire had focused on the business component over the leasehold, a 30 year lease managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Mining (DERM).

“We approached our campaign with a new perspective and saw the greater asset value in leasehold rather than the business value,” he said.

“When it comes to valuing property the saying goes ‘location, location, location’. By calculating an approximate market rent for such a site, we were able to assign a value to the leasehold.”

John Petralia said the Pelican Boat Hire site comprises approximately 400 sqm of foreshore and 1,305 sqm of the Noosa River.

“This is one of the largest sites on the river and because of the foreshore component, makes it extremely rare and valuable,” he said.

“It is extremely unlikely that any new commercial jetty will ever be made available on the Noosa River in the future.”

John Petralia said commercial sites on the Noosa River are held via a 30 year lease to the DERM, which is different to a standard freehold.

“The new owner is an experienced businessman who could see the value in controlling this site via a leasehold and therefore could justify the price,” he said.

“While there was a focus on the leasehold, the value of the business was still an important component.

“Pelican Boat Hire has traded from this site for more than 50 years and has a solid history of growth and profits.  There is also scope to expand the business.”