Tarraleah, a picturesque village, has been listed for sale since last week, drawing interest from prospective buyers — companies as well as individuals — from Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.
“I’ve never sold a town before,” property agent John Blacklow told AFP.
The 145-hectare (358.3-acre) town was built in the 1920s and 1930s by the Hydro Electric Commission, now Hydro Tasmania, as base for its 2,000 personnel.
But Tarraleah, located 126 kilometers northwest of the state capital of Hobart, became largely abandoned in the 1990s when the hydroelectric workers were no longer needed as the management started to automate the dams and power stations, which supply electricity to southern Tasmania.
In 2003, property developer Julian Homer bought the Central Highlands town, noted for its alpine lakes and mountains, and transformed the village into a tourism site.
“He’s finally finished his program of renovation, which has taken him 13 years, so the whole of the town — all the 33 buildings and infrastructure — have been done up to a very high-class standard,” said Blacklow, who has been selling hotels for more than 30 years.
“Now it’s ready for an operator to actually take over and continue the operations as a tourism village for accommodation, mainly.”
Tarraleah, whose current residents are tourism-related staff, brings in an annual revenue of Aus$2.1 million. It has a lodge, bar, cafe, trout-fishing dam and 35 highland cattle.
“It’s only been on the market since last Thursday but we’ve issued 30 to 40 property reports,” Blacklow told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“Some of those have been overseas, a lot from interstate. I think a lot of people are more curious than anything, wondering what’s this all about.”
The real estate agent said while the entire village will be sold as a block, the buyer can sell off blocks of land or individual houses.
