Kiwi investors buy popular Coromandel campground

The campground is close to the famous Hot Water Beach. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi investors have bought a popular Coromandel camping ground for $13.25 million and will continue running it as is.

There were fears the 6.79 hectare, beachside Hahei Holiday Resort could make way for million-dollar mansions after the family who owned it for more than 50 years put it on the market in April.

But the spokesman for the group of four buyers, Vaughan Magnusson - who is chief executive of e-travel business Online Republic and a long-term investor in the Opoutere campground in the Coromandel - said today they wanted to invest in another holiday spot.

"When the Hahei Holiday Resort came up for same we thought 'let's have a crack at it'. Hahei Beach is spectacular and its proximity to surrounding attractions of Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach is excellent.

"Our vision for Hahei is for it to continue to be run as a great Kiwi family holiday resort. We want people to enjoy the camping they have loved here for years, and to encourage people to see that there's more to the resort than camping - there are villas, studios and apartments here too, so you don't have to be in a tent to enjoy Hahei. And we are hopeful that the staff will come along with us on the journey."

Existing bookings would be honoured, he said.

Previous owner Ian Carter said he and his family were pleased with the outcome. Carter and his siblings and step-siblings, who inherited the camp from their parents and camp founders, Dawn and Vaughan Harsant, had secured a 45-year structure plan before the sale to make it "more viable as an accommodation resort".

"Carrying on the Kiwi camping legacy at Hahei is good news for campers, the Hahei community and tourism on the Coromandel Peninsula."

The sale of the property is unconditional and settlement will take place on October 1. The resort has a capital value of $11.69m across two titles, and a real estate source said in April the prime property could fetch up to $15m and, if then subdivided, waterfront sections could sell for up to $1.2m.

Agent John Bedford, of CBRE, said there had been interest in the property from almost 100 serious parties, from New Zealand and overseas.