One of Waiheke Island's most stunning properties, Delamore Lodge, has been sold, OneRoof can reveal.
The luxury clifftop home that curves around the slopes above Owhanake Bay has been a popular spot for A-list celebrities, including Oscar-winner Hilary Swank and the late Jonah Lomu, and had been on and off the market for almost a decade.
New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty announced the deal on social media today, congratulating the property's most recent listing agent, Greg Dennerly.
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Chris Jones, general manager of Sotheby's, posted on Linkedin that Dennerly had achieved a "significant" sale and praised his "creativity, hard work, perseverance and skill".
Dennerly told OneRoof that the deal was inked two weeks into the first Covid-19 lockdown, but could not go unconditional until after June when due diligence and inspections were permitted.
He was not permitted to disclose the sale price, but said it was "close" to the asking price of $10 million plus GST. The buyer, he said, was a Hong Kong family resident in New Zealand. They have installed a professional hotel management company to run the lodge.
Delamore Lodge property has long been a private hideaway for celebrity guests to Waiheke Island. Photo / Supplied
Dennerly said: "We had 25 parties seriously looking, eight went as far as signing the non-disclosure agreement.”
He said that while the lodge had been on and off the market for nearly 10 years, most buyers didn't want the work required to run such a high spec business for demanding international clientele.
"We've been marketing this for a year. By bringing in an experienced management company, with 18 or 20 lodges, that can bring in management, swap out chefs, then it's an investment, not work.
"Now the family can just come in and use it when they want."
The property comes with its own helicopter pad. Photo / Supplied
Dennerly said that he was now "discretely looking" for similar luxury property for the qualified buyers who missed out on Delamore. "These are in the $5 million to $10 million bracket, but they would never go to market."
Delamore Lodge, which has a CV of $7.2 million, is famous around the globe for its infinity pool. It was named one of the world's best by TripAdvisor in 2015 and was built after Andy Summers, guitarist with The Police, said he really wanted a pool to swim in when he stayed at the lodge in 2008.
Other celebrities to have stayed at the lodge include Swank and pop singer Alanis Morissette. It was also the venue for Lomu's second wedding when he married Fiona Taylor in a lavish ceremony in 2003.
The deal for Delamore Lodge follows another landmark sale by Sotheby's. Before lockdown, Sotheby's agent Pene Milne brokered what is claimed to be New Zealand's highest residential sale this year.
Milne sold the Auckland home formerly owned by the Kiwi director of Shrek and the Chronicles of Narnia to former All Black Ali Williams and the sister of billionaire Zuru Toys owner Nick Mowbray.
According to the Herald on Sunday, which broke the story, the sale price is thought to be around $23 million - more than double the previous highest settled sale price this year, $10.7 million for an unidentified home in Auckland's Takapuna.
Waiheke Island's top settled sale price this year is the $9 million paid for another clifftop property, Te Kohunga/The Nest, at Oneroa.
Owen Vaughan, editor of NZME-owned property listings site, said the top end of the market hadn't shrunk as had been predicted at the start of the Covid-19 crisis. "There have been some notable sales in recent months, which suggests wealthy Kiwis are willing to spend that overseas holiday money on property.
"Since Auckland went into lockdown, two clifftop properties on Riddell Road in Glendowie have sold for more than $6 million each at auction. And the number of registered bidders who have lost out after making offers on $3m-plus homes suggests there will be more high-profile sales to come."
Dennerly said he was also marketing the ultimate city-edge lifestyle property: Pakatoa Island, in the middle of Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. It has an asking price of $40 million, and the run-down 1990s resort is politely described as having "endless potential"
