Hyde Park The Residence penthouse sale confirmed at $17 million

After years on the market and speculation of sales, the penthouse at Hyde Park's The Residence has been sold for $17 million to a buyer of Chinese descent.

The sale was brokered through Nigel Napoli at Savills Residential Projects.

Conjunctional agent Ben Stewart of CBRE confirmed the sale to Property Observer.

The speculation is that the buyer has regularly travelled between Australia and mainland China and some of his family are students in Australia.

Apartment 88, also known as The Sulman, was initially listed with $20 million hopes and underwent $1 million worth of upgrades last year.

The penthouse features three bedrooms, marble bathrooms and a rooftop garden and pool. It comes with 810-square-metre over two levels, equating to $21,000 a square metre.

Property Observer wrote about The Sulman in February last year when it was rumoured to have sold for $20 million, but no contract was ever signed.

The Title Tattle column noted the sale of the penthouse of The Residence had become akin to pulling a rabbit out of a hat as there had also been an initial premature AFR September 2011 sale report that suggested a very bullish $25 million. 

The other penthouse in the 23-level The Residence complex  is still on the market for around $15 million.