The luxury hotel illegally bought by Chinese businessmen is back on sale

A multi-million dollar lodge with its own waterfall and helicopter platforms, previously illegally bought by Chinese businessmen, is back on the market.

Kourawhero Mountain Lodge spans 100 acres of heritage protected land north of Auckland and includes 18 luxury guest villas, a cocktail bar, restaurant, tennis courts and a day spa.

However, the shelter near Matakana was also the subject of a recent investigation by the Foreign Investment Office.

That prompted the High Court to order Chinese businessmen Zhong Liang Hong and Xueli Ke last year to sell the property.

Hong and Ke broke New Zealand law by buying the hotel in 2012 without the approval of the Office for Foreign Investment.

Current owner Christopher Tanner was able to purchase the “majestic purpose-built lodge” for $ 3.25 million in March of last year.

That was considerably below its Auckland Council assessment of $ 5.5 million, and has since operated it as a high-end getaway with rooms costing up to $ 490 a night.

However, just over a year later, the hostel was back on the market.

Tanner told the Herald that he loved the property but had decided to sell now because, being in his 60s, he was looking to slow down and take it easy.

Bayleys sales agents had not included an expected sale price.

But Tanner said he had been able to buy the hotel at a great price last year because the former owners were forced to sell.

“My timing was excellent, but you had to be ready to face it at that point,” he said.

This is because, although the hostel buildings were purpose built in 2007, little money has been spent on them since.

Subsequently, Tanner spent the next 18 months and a lot of money improving the property in a “labor of love.”

“I’m a perfectionist and we’ve taken it to an amazing level,” he said.

And while the Covid-19 pandemic had prompted New Zealand to close its borders to foreign tourists, Tanner claimed it had actually been a blessing in disguise for his business.

Many Aucklanders who might otherwise have traveled abroad now spend more time on local getaways, he said.

“The weekends have been fantastic, for example, we are sold out this weekend,” he said.

While corporate and wedding bookings had declined, they were now picking up as well, even from “big-name” companies, he said.

And the hotel didn’t just appeal to those in the hospitality industry, said Bayley’s sales agent Diana Coman.

The wealthy could also be tempted to buy the property with their “pair of helicopter pads.”

“With its low-key rural setting and easy car and helicopter access to the Super City, this property could be of great interest to wealthy individuals looking for a trophy property,” Coman said.

Chinese entrepreneurs Hong and Ke bought the hostel in 2012 for $ 2.55 million.

They did so by arranging for New Zealander Arthur Qui Churchill to list the property under the name of a company in which Churchill was listed as the sole shareholder and director, Superior Court Judge Mark Woolford concluded in his ruling last year.

This deal then remained “undocumented” for about a year, Woolford said.

However, in late 2013, Hong and Ke “realized that Mr. Churchill had embezzled funds in connection with the cottage and had taken out a mortgage against the cottage for his own purposes,” he said.

To protect their interests, Hong and Ke launched legal proceedings against Churchill.

They then transferred the hostel to the ownership of another company with a separate New Zealand citizen listed as its sole shareholder and director.

However, Hong and Ke again did not seek OIO approval.

Only later did they seek to obtain retrospective approval from OIO, but this was rejected.

The OIO then launched an investigation against the businessmen that led them to be prosecuted in the Superior Court.

The couple were subsequently ordered to pay the Crown $ 2.95 million as a fine for buying the lodge and another nearby farm without OIO approval.