Fairfax newspaper executive Antony Catalano secures half share in Rae's on Watego's trophy beachfront
Fairfax local newspaper executive Antony Catalano has secured a half share in Rae's on Watego's trophy beachfront. The Rae's on Watego's guesthouse at Byron Bay had been back on the market in after its $20 million purchaser failed to settle the October 2012 pre-auction deal.
It was sold by the entrepreneur Vincent Rae who charges between $600 to $1380 a night.
Property Observer notes a June 13 caveatable interest lodged by Antony Catalano by his solicitor Adam Van Kempen acknowledging a heads of agreement for the purchase.
His investment is reputedly around $7 million for the half share, plus then another $1.5 million to undertake a major renovation of the iconic hospitality holding.
Catalano has owned a small Byron Bay retreat, just two minutes from Rae's, since paying $2.35 million in boomtime 2007 for the strata duplex. He has dabbled in property development and investment on and off for almost three decades amid his property publishing initiatives.
Acclaimed for its eclectic European-styled interiors amid lush gardens with sweeping ocean views, Rae's on Wategos Beach at Byron Bay was on the market for the first time in two decades.
Rae's is opposite the 1,406-square-metre record-setting holding bought by property developer Danny Goldberg for $15.68 million in 2006.
Rae's guesthouse was built by Ruth Harris who established a restaurant there called Argentine Ant Cantina and then La Belle Epoque, neither of which were especially successful although Liberace did play the piano at the then French medieval-styled mansion around which Salvador Dalí had a hand in its early 1970s tropical garden design, presumably a sketch or two done from afar.
Wanting $2 million at its June 1994 auction, Harris later sold for $1,375,000 in 1994 to Rae, who developed it into an iconic luxury retreat once rated by Conde Nast Traveler magazine in its "Top 25 Hotels in the World" in 1997.
Over the years its guests have included Richard Branson, Harvey Keitel, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Tom Cruise, Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, Keith Richards, Pink, Elle Macpherson and Nicole Kidman.
Rae listed it last year saying that at 50 he was ready to move on.
"I've had a lot of interest over years but I've never wanted to sell," he told News Ltd.
"I've had discussions with Richard Branson over the last year or two, he loves the place.
"You would love to think it will continue on. She is a great old dame, that building.
"But at the end of the day I'm looking for the best result, and if a Packer came in and wanted to pay top money and turn it into a house I could walk away with a smile on my face."
It was 1994 when the Rae's property sold for $1.37 million. There is recent approval for a new underground car park, cocktail bar, lift, sub penthouse, spa area and a 200 square metre entertaining terrace.
The Australian reported gross revenues in Rae's declined from $3,051,000 in 2008 to $2,319,000 last year. Recent outright buying interest reportedly came from Quadrant Capital's George Penklis.