A waterfront mansion with stunning views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House has sold for a whopping A$95 million (NZ$103 million).
In what is Australia's second most expensive residential sale, a gold mining magnate is said to have scooped up the Point Piper property that had been put on the market by the founders of one of Australia's largest fashion chains.
READ MORE: Inside rich-lister’s multi-million-dollar Victoria Avenue mansion
The Australian Financial Review reported that “John” Changjin Li, a 57-year-old Australian businessman from China’s Jiangxi province was behind the purchase, although this has been denied by the agent who brokered the deal.
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The property at Wolseley Road, known locally as Edgewater, has a rare 40-metre harbour frontage and has a line of sight to the Bridge and the Opera House.
It has a tennis court on the waterfront and a deepwater jetty. The agent behind the deal, which is said to have a two-year settlement, is the Sotheby’s managing director Michael Pallier.
The property was sold by the co-founders of the Katies women’s retail clothing chain, Joseph Brender and the late Sam Moss.
They’d bought the 1800sqm property for A$5 million in 1985 from an entertainment promoter as a concrete shell, and engaged an architect to convert it into two separate apartments to house the two families.
The property has great views of Sydney Harbour. Photo / Supplied
The property is just a few doors along from the Westfield billionaire Frank Lowy, who bought his waterfront for A$1.3 million in 1991.
The street-level of the property is on the roof, with access to the residences via a lift. There is a shared entertainment level — accommodating a kitchen and an indoor swimming pool — on the lower level, and a tennis court, pavilion and jetty on the waterfront.
It’s understood the buyer paid A$47.5 million for each of the homes and plans to convert it back into one home. The lower level residence is currently rented out for $6000 per week.
Australia’s highest-priced house sale was the A$100 million paid for a nearby mansion estate in 2018. That property was on 11,000sqm of land while Edgewater sits on less than 2000 sqm of land.
The seven-bedroom Paritai Drive house that holds the record of New Zealand’s highest sale. Photo / Supplied
Sydney property valuer Simon Feilich told Australian media: “When you buy something for A$5 million and make A$90 million, that’s a pretty unbelievable return."
New Zealand's biggest residential property sale this year was of an Auckland harbourside home formerly owned by Kiwi film director Andrew Adamson. It recently sold to former All Black Ali Williams and billionaire Zuru Toys co-founder Anna Mowbray for a reported $23 million.
New Zealand's record-holder is still the $39 million paid in 2013 for an Auckland mansion built by controversial financier Mark Hotchin on Paritai Drive.
- With additional reporting from news.com.au
