Just Jeans founder and entrepreneur Craig Kimberley & wife Connie, relist their spectacular nine-pavilion mansion Kalimna overlooking the Coral Sea on Flagstaff Hill and Property Observer gleans over $7.5 million is being sought.

Having gone through a very flat period, the luxury property market is starting to see an increase in quality listings and genuine buyer interest in Port Douglas. 

“The market has been through a very flat period. High end properties will not receive the prices they would have 10 years ago. Something that was $7million or $8million then might fetch $5million or $6million today. So if a vendor has been sitting on something for years there is now an opportunity to sell but they have to give something to buyers. The vendor and buyer need to be rational on both sides and consider whether the market fits with their current lifestyles. There is renewed market confidence growing from the bottom up driven by low interest rates." says Tony McGrath of The Pink Company agency who is the Co-Agent with Chrisities International agent Ken Jacobs and Darren Curtis. 

In an interview with Larissa Ham in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2012, the article states that Craig Kimberley together with his family built Just Jeans from one store to about 280 across Australia and New Zealand and sold the company before the internet began to impact on retail stores. 

Despite this tycoons continued international entrepreneurial pursuits in women’s fashion, he admits his burning passion is a historic Queensland tin-mining village he and Connie brought back to life and it is situated in our very own back yard. This labour of love is the Herberton Historic Village which had been closed for seven years when the couple spotted it while driving past. Within six months they had bought it, and in 2009 they relaunched it to the public. "Basically it's preserving Australia as it was 100 years ago," Kimberley says in the article.  

The Village website claims it owes its existence firstly to Herberton’s pioneers and then to a long list of dedicated residents who followed them.  It exists today because of two couples – inspired collector Harry Skennar and his wife Ellen and owners Craig and Connie Kimberley who continue the tradition and restoration with the support of the local community.

Whilst the Herberton Historic Village is not a “business proposition” he encourages would-be entrepreneurs to find an area they love and test out their ideas. "I think there's opportunities out there every day," he says. “It’s a matter of seeing them, testing them – you do not need a lot of money.” From humble beginnings the company started with $4,500, “the opportunity was there and we went for it” he says. 

With the sale of the listed hilltop mansion, it is reported the Kimberley's paid $530,000 for the nine-pavilion Kalimna in 1993, with the potential for a $6.97 million profit if it sells for the price sought. 

Kimberley Entrepreneur Tips

For anyone testing the market to see if it fits with your current lifestyle, the article offers some valuable tips from Mr Kimberley for would-be entrepreneurs: 

• The business world is changing all the time. Understand that whatever concept you have, it's going to change constantly.
• Travel to look at ideas that interest you and consider how you can adapt them to Australia.
• Always get involved. If you're going to start a business, go and work in a business in that industry and learn the nuts and bolts.
• Seek out someone in the industry that you like. They can mentor you.
• Read and search the internet for books about your interests.