ON A $70M MISSION
Mission Beach build to lift economy
WE PLAN TO COMPLETELY REDEVELOP THE ENTIRE PROPERTY, WHICH MEANS EVERY ASSET ABOVE THE GROUND, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE TWO POOLS, WILL GO AND BE REBUILT JAMES NEVILLE-SMITH, OWNER CASTAWAYS RESORT AND SPA
MISSION Beach is set to ride a wave of prosperity with plans to inject $70m into redeveloping one of its most wellknown resorts.
Capacity at Castaways Resort and Spa would be tripled and about 400 jobs created during construction if given the go-ahead.
A PROPOSED $70 million expansion to a popular Mission Beach resort is predicted to boost the region’s profile and bring millions of dollars to the local economy.
Castaways Resort and Spa owner James Neville-Smith has announced plans for a complete rebuild and expansion of the resort, which will more than triple its current capacity.
“We will have 226 rooms, up from 48, housed in 126 new accommodation units,” he said.
“We plan to completely redevelop the entire property, which means every asset above the ground, with the exception of the two pools, will go and be rebuilt.”
After buying the resort in 2006, Mr Neville-Smith has invested $6 million to completely transform it in 2010.
He said there had been significant growth in business after the rebuild and he bought the Mackays’ property across the road from the main resort in 2015 to cater for the increased demand.
However, the ever-increasing need for quality accommodation in the area had now prompted the expansion, which will be named The New Castaways. The resort will also have an underground carpark with 162 parking spaces, three additional pools, multiple dining options and a state-of-theart conference facility.
He said a lot of thought had gone into the design and the neighbours and environment were considered in the plans.
“We designed this to be as minimal a footprint from the back as possible, so for the residents of Pacific Parade, their visual amenity won’t be impacted upon as much because of the way it’s been designed,” he said.
“We’ve got a tiered level going up to the front, where most of the height is, two breezeways between the beach and the street to retain the connectivity that has always been there and, most importantly, all the rooms look inward, not outward.
“We could have had the rooms looking towards the hills, and call them rainforest view rooms, but to protect the amenity as much as possible, we have them facing into the resort.
“Last but not least, this is not a high-rise development, it’s not a Surfers Paradiseesque proposition, it is very much keeping with the region and keeping it as low-footprint as possible.”
He predicted the community would almost immediately feel the benefits of huge economic growth during the build.
“We are looking at about 400 jobs during the construc- tion phase and 120 ongoing jobs in this hotel alone – that’s an additional $8 million of employment from our business going into the community,” he said.
“I think this has all of the elements that will make this region great without destroying any aspect of it and without changing the essence of what is Mission Beach.”
Mr Neville-Smith said these plans were a long time coming and had been in the works since he took over the resort 12 years ago.
“Fundamentally, we got to a point where the community, the industry, the council and our clients have been asking when we were going to grow,” he said.
“We are really getting to the point now where we are ready to go again, ready to develop and do the things we originally wanted to do.”
The first step of the project will need approval from Cassowary Coast Regional Council and Mr Neville-Smith met councillors and council staff yesterday to discuss his plans.
If approved, the project will be built in stages with close community engagement to ensure all residents are kept informed on the project.
Work is expected to begin mid-2019.