Mark Bouris and Harold Mitchell both sell their Sydney Astor apartments
Veteran adman media buyer Harold Mitchell has seemingly sold his Sydney bolthole, a $3.5 million plus apartment in The Astor.
The ninth floor Macquarie Street offering (pictured above) had been listed through David Newgrosh of David Newgrosh Real Estate last August.
Title Tattle recalls Mitchell gutted the then four bedroom apartment on its purchase around 14 years ago from Pamela Palmer of the Palmer stockbroking family.
The refurbishment into a much-draped two bedroom, three bathroom apartment took around a year.
It has harbour views.
It was 2012 when Yellow Brick Road boss Mark Bouris put his pad in The Astor on the market.
In 2006, he bought the five-bedroom, two-storey north-east corner apartment from then Astor chairman Peter Kernaghan.
It has an estimated 440 square metre space over what were three separate apartments.
Its also been available for rent at $3950 a week.
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Fairfax Media suggest $8 million plus was achieved, though without confirmation from the listing agents, David Newgrosh Real Estate and Tony Barron at Sothebys International.
The apartment is best known for its occupation by entertainer Barry Humphries, before it sold for $800,000 in 1987 and then extended with the addition of another adjoining apartment.
It comes with sweeping semi-spiral staircase to the upper level, where there is a "magnificent master bedroom suite" with private study, walk-in dressing room and ensuite bathroom.
Title Tattle last inspected the apartment back in 1986 when its was Dame Edna's possum pit. At the time it was also a split-level triplex. The price back then was $1.25 million for the then seven bedroom apartment, with the apartment split back into two leaving one with the gracious wrought iron staircase for grand entrances.
The Astor is the 12-storey, 1920s company title block that once dominated not only the city skyline but Sydney society.
Despite being the city's oldest apartment complex - and facing serious competition from many nearby new developments – it continues to attract buyers, especially when a modernised apartment comes with parking elsewhere on the strip.
Especially after the elegant Iain Halliday-designed renovation benchmark set in the mid-1990s after style-setters, ad man John Nankervis and wife Amanda bought their $535,000 third-floor deceased estate unit.
Bouris took up his ownership having previously had digs elsewhere on Macquarie Street, in the Bennelong complex.
Over the years the block of apartments has been home to Lisa Rochfort, who was the managing director of Australian couture jewellers Fairfax & Roberts, adman Harold Mitchell, Pioneer founder Sir Tristan Antico, broadcaster John Laws, caterer Charles Wilkins and artist Portia Geach.
Being company title, keeping track of pricing and sales figures is a little difficult, though in 1932 the eighth-floor north-east corner block was passed in at £4,300.
Despite being the city's oldest apartment complex - and facing serious competition from many nearby new developments – it continues to attract buyers, especially when a modernised Astor apartment comes with parking nearby.
Completed in 1923, the Astor was the idea of entrepreneurs John and Cicely O'Brien.
The building was designed by architects Stuart Mould and Donald Esplin with a rooftop garden and basement restaurant.
Back then there were butlers and maids provided by the house manager.
Heiress Dame Eadith Walker, then Australia's wealthiest woman, was one of original buyers.
"It was there for the landed gentry…of which I am not one," Mitchell told 2GB's Money News host Ross Greenwood.