The Fox family is believed to be buying Heatherton\u2019s Capital Golf Club from Blackstone Group, which it acquired as part of its purchase of Crown Resorts in mid-2022.<\/p>\n
The 120 hectare Peter Thomson designed course, developed in 1997 costing c$50 million, is speculated to be setting the group back over $100m.<\/p>\n
Crown paid Lloyd Williams $67.6m in 2014.<\/p>\n
Exclusive with invitation-only access, players have included professional golfers, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia, US presidents, past and present, prime ministers and state premiers.<\/p>\n
Blackstone sells another Crown site<\/p>\n
Blackstone said the sale, mooted last year, was in part due to a reduction in high-roller gaming post COVID.<\/p>\n
The property is also considered a non-core asset to the Crown casino\/hospitality business.<\/p>\n
The Fox family bought the property off-market.<\/p>\n
Little is known of the other bidders however James Packer and his real estate arm, NPACT, on conjunction with Clinton Casey\u2019s Casey Group confirmed it looked in. It is also speculated Melbourne Storm chairman Matthew Tripp was a suitor.<\/p>\n
It is expected the golf course, one of the country\u2019s most exclusive, will continue in its existing form.<\/p>\n
However the site has clear upside for commercial development \u2013 something Mr Fox is familiar with, including via the staged Essendon Fields development across town.<\/p>\n
The deal comes five months since we reported<\/a> Blackstone sold a series of sites opposite Crown Casino including the Queens Bridge Hotel to local developer PDG which is planning a $1.5 billion apartment project.<\/p>\n Another two properties offloaded in 2023, soon after Blackstone took ownership of Crown, sold to Les Smith\u2019s LAS Group, and were this month approved for a c700m residential based mixed use complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.<\/p>\n