Radio star Jess Eva buys Queensland building block

The Triple M breakfast radio personality Jess Eva and her builder husband Norm have bought in coastal Queensland.

But it’s a building block with no expectations to move back anytime soon.

The couple, who are renting in Tennyson Point, came to national prominence as contestants on The Block Gatwick in St Kilda last year.

Eva then made the switch from Triple M Brisbane to Sydney to co-host Moonman in the Morning with Lawrence Mooney, Chris Page and Gus Worland who announced midweek he was departing the crew.

Jess and Norm bought the 545 square metre building block on Russell Island, southeast of Brisbane.

“We bought on Russell Island because we believe it is the best value land in the country,” Eva told me.

They plan to build in the next year or so and keep and rent the house.

“The end goal would be to move there in 15 to 20 years,” Eva added.

They paid $17,000, half of what it traded for in 2010.

The block is located not far from the ferry terminals on the biggest of the Southern Moreton Bay Islands.

“The commute to the mainland is around 20 minutes so it is very realistic to work in the city of Brisbane or Gold Coast and live on a peaceful island for far less cost.”

The so-called millionaires row on Russell Island has building block prices at $350,000.

The family are content in Tennyson Point, where Jess and Norm are parents to two-year-old Matilda and five-year-old Fred.

“It has a great community feel,” Eva says.

It is a 15-minute commute to the Pyrmont studio at 4.30am.

The family have retained their prior abode at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, which cost $620,000 in 2016.

They had owned a vacant building block nearby but sold it in 2016 for $384,000.

The couple’s apartment came last in the Block auction, but they still pocketed $209,000. 

This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.