Pepin Island

Is Pepin Island for sale, and how much does it cost?

Pepin Island is a 1280 acres developed private island in Tasman Bay, New Zealand, New Zealand. It is not currently on the market (a past-sale benchmark we track): Past sale · editorial benchmark. Tenure is freehold. Foreign ownership is permitted subject to local approvals. This is an editorial profile drawn from public record, clearly attributed, not our listing.

Summary

Pepin Island is a 518-hectare freeholdOutright ownership of the land itself, indefinitely — the strongest form of title. peninsula-island in Tasman Bay north of Nelson, marketed for several years through NZ Sotheby's before transacting near NZD 13.5 million. We profile it as a recently traded comparable and as the clearest illustration of New Zealand's Overseas Investment Act in practice. Uniquely for a private island, it is road-connected by causeway, and it functions as a working sheep and cattle station overlaid with a boutique eco-tourism enclave — a productive coastal estate rather than a secluded retreat.

Land & Waterfront

The island runs to roughly 1,280 acres of rolling grassland, bush, orchards and pine plantation, edged by a rugged coastline of quiet beach coves. It carries a genuine agricultural operation — on the order of two thousand sheep and a hundred cattle — making it a landholding of real productive scale rather than an ornamental island. The coves and coastal frontage supply the amenity and the eco-tourism appeal, while the interior delivers the pastoral income that has long defined the property.

Access & Utilities

Access is via a causeway to the mainland, an unusual convenience that removes any boat or helicopter dependency and places Nelson city and its airport around twenty minutes away by road. Being close to Nelson, the property benefits from mains-adjacent services and established farm infrastructure, including a seven-bedroom homestead, cottages and three eco-chalets. For a buyer, this proximity materially lowers the servicing and logistics burden that isolates most private islands.

Ownership & Use

Tenure is freehold, but any overseas acquirer of a holding this size and sensitivity must obtain Overseas Investment Office consent, a process that shapes both timeline and buyer eligibility; the recent sale is understood to have returned the island to New Zealand ownership. Suited uses combine continued pastoral farming with boutique eco-tourism accommodation. As a traded comparable, its chief value here is as a benchmark for large New Zealand coastal-island pricing and for the OIO consent pathway that governs foreign interest.

Provenance

Bought in 1995/96 for NZD 2M by German businesswoman Dr Viola von Hohenzollern, whose Overseas Investment Commission consent required (but never delivered) tourist bungalows; passed to her daughter Olivia Hallman on von Hohenzollern's 2012 death. Listed at NZD 16M in 2018, cut to NZD 13.5M in March 2021 and sold that May — the buyer, revealed by NZ Herald in July 2021, was German-born NZ-resident businessman Tobias Janke, holding via family trusts.

Specification

Status	Archive
Offering	For sale
Region	South Pacific · Tasman Bay, New Zealand
Country	New Zealand
Size	1280 acres · 518 ha
Tenure	Freehold
Development	Developed
Holding-cost band	High — estate operations
Access	causeway road
Nearest airport	About a 20-minute drive to Nelson city and airport via a mainland causeway
Power	mains-adjacent farm supply
Water	farm supply
Communications	mobile
Structures	seven-bedroom farmhouse, three cottages/baches, three eco-chalets, farm buildings
Foreign ownership	Permitted (see notes)

Price record

Documented public figures over time — asking prices, reported sales and reductions, each attributed. This record is maintained editorially and may lag the market.

The full traced record — ownership lineage and every dated event back to the earliest public mention — is in The Ledger, for members.

Legal & Ownership Notes

New Zealand allows freehold ownership, but sales of sensitive rural and island land to overseas buyers require Overseas Investment Office consent under the Overseas Investment Act. This large coastal holding would fall within that regime.

Zoning: Working pastoral farm with boutique eco-tourism use

• understood to have transacted near NZD 13.5m — treat as archive/comparable
• any overseas purchaser requires OIO consent

Satellite reference: ESRI World Imagery / Google Earth — Pepin Island, Nelson, New Zealand.

Common questions

How much does Pepin Island cost?

Pepin Island is profiled at: Past sale · editorial benchmark. Figures reflect public record at time of writing and may change; the profile keeps a dated price record.

What tenure does Pepin Island have?

Pepin Island is held on freehold tenure. Always confirm the exact instrument and any remaining term on the title.

Can a foreigner buy Pepin Island?

Foreign buyers may own property here subject to local approvals. New Zealand allows freehold ownership, but sales of sensitive rural and island land to overseas buyers require Overseas Investment Office consent under the Overseas Investment Act. This large coastal holding would fall within that regime.

How do you get to Pepin Island?

Access is by causeway road. Nearest airport: About a 20-minute drive to Nelson city and airport via a mainland causeway.

How big is Pepin Island?

Pepin Island is approximately 1280 acres (518 hectares).