AND BUYS ARCADIA MOTEL
ONE of Magnetic Island’s most popular accommodation businesses has been acquired by a family from Toowoomba who “fell in love” with the place when they visited the island.
The Uebergang family were having lunch in the beer garden at the Arcadia Village Hotel when they noticed the motel next door.
“We had been looking at buying a caravan park for a couple of years and there we were, sitting in the Arcadia pub, and we were saying ‘Wouldn’t this be a great place to run’,” Adam Uebergang said.
“Like a lot of people do, we fell in love with Magnetic Island so we had the idea in mind of looking at an accommodation business there and then in December I saw that the Arcadia Village Motel was up for sale and we moved on it.”
Mr Uebergang, his wife, Taylia, and 19-month-old son Huck have made the move north and begun their new life as Magnetic Island moteliers.
He bought the leasehold to the motel for $820,000 through Resortbrokers North Queensland specialist Des Fagg.
Mr Fagg said the North Queensland accommodation market had been hit hard when lockdowns and border closures occurred last year but had bounced back strongly.
“Magnetic Island, in particular, has been going gangbusters thanks to a surge in domestic tourism caused by international border closures and the Arcadia Village Motel is perfectly placed to capitalise on that,” he said.
Before moving to Magnetic Island, Adam and Taylia Uebergang ran a national transport company out of Toowoomba. They’ve described the move as the “ultimate lifestyle decision”.
“I’ve always loved the outdoors and fishing and crabbing, that sort of thing, so I think I’m in the right place for that,” Mr Uebergang said.
“I know I’ll have my hands full getting to grips with running a new business but we already feel like we’re getting on top of how things work.”
It’s been a baptism of fire for the Uebergangs with the announcement that Townsville will host the State of Origin on Wednesday.
The motel has been fully booked. “Since that game was announced, the phones have been running hot and we’ve had to tell people we’re fully booked.
“But like everyone else around here, we’re really happy they chose Townsville,” Mr Uebergang said.
“Running a motel is hard work and you have to be very hands on but I think within a month or two we should be totally fine. It’s already an enjoyable experience but I know it’ll get even better.”