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qv
(ffJ',:;,G^-1CtUAry
. -dl,rorniaandNewZeatand.He pqll
becamea successful developerby strad-
dling the continentsto lure his adopted
countrymento his homeland.His Moun- Want to be far from terrorismthreats and have
t a i n L a n d i n g d e v e l o p m e n to, n N e w BillGatesas a neighbor?ThenNew Zealand
Z e a l a n d 'Ns o r t h I s l r t n dl.i t r g c t si f l l u r ' n t may be the placefor you. ir .il'' . De::r:,=r-:r
Americanswho rvanttwo thrngs:securlry
and a uniqueenvironment.The first stage
of the developmentwas completedlast
year,and 8 of the 46 availablesiteshave
beensold,mainlyto U.S.buyers.
Americans'interestin NewZealandas
a placeto retireor to buy a secondhome
jumped after the Sept.I I attacks.Res-
idencyapplicationsdoubledliom pre-
attacklevels.New Zealandis a l2-hour
f l i g h t f r o m t h e U . S .W e s t C o a s r ,a n d
C o o p e rc o u l d a d d t o h i . ss a l e sp i t c h a
p r i s t i n ee n v i r o n n r e n tT: h e L o r d o f t h e
'l'he
Ringsmeet.s Piano.
t r l o u n t a i nL a n d i n g i s a n e n c l o s e d
1,000-acre developmentwith a helipad
that can shuttlehonreownersin and out
of their developmentat a momentk
notice-to hunker down in the faceof a
world calarnityor be transportedfor a
d a y o f m o u n t a i nc l i m b i n g .T h e s i t e s ,
b c t r r c c n I a n d l 2 a c r c s ,r v i l l g o f i r r
between$3 million and $5 million. They
are in the Bay of Islands, near the
northernmosttip of NewZealand- 1,000
milesfrom the nearestpieceof non-New
Zealand,land but still convenientfor the
bright lightsof Auckland,New Zealand's
biggestcity.
While Cooper is a pioneerin devel-
opinghomesfor U.S.buyers,he is not the
first American to haveinvestedin New
Zealandreal estate.Billionaire /ulian
Robertson,the 76-year-oldformerhedge
fund manager,went there in 1980to that cost up to $10,000for a three-night
New Zealand.Bill Gateshaspropertyin
write the greatAmerican novel.Since stay.He has also set up two wineries. Nelson,
New Zealand'ssunniestregion,
then there'sbeen no novel,but he has Another hedgefund billionaire, paul at the
I northwesterntip of SouthIsland.
I built two golf courses,both with cottages Tudor JonesII, has largepropertiesin More
recentlyEquity International,bil-
I
102 FoRaEs lury21,2oo8