Nigel Austin, the Cotton On retailer chain founder, the One Towers Road Toorak buyer
Nigel Austin, the founder of the Cotton On chain, is the confirmed buyer of One Towers Road, Toorak which was sold earlier this month by former JPMorgan Australia chairman Brian Watson.
It will be the home of the Geelong born and based ragtrader and his expectant partner, Melanie.
The teenage Austin began selling factory seconds from the back of his car at Geelong markets in the earlier 1990s. Nigel, who turns 43 this year, has a 36 hectare stud at Ceres, the locality which has an outlook over Geelong. He also has a waterfront apartment located in the sought after Eastern Beach precinct of Geelong.
Cotton On was founded in 1991, with the first store being opened in Geelong, Australia. By 2013, the Cotton On chain has over 1021 stores worldwide.It has over 1000 stores in 12 countries and as of 2011 employed around 5,500 people.
Before he exited the BRW Young Rich due to its 40 years old age cut off, Nigel Austin was valued at $236 million in the 2010 list.
Little has been known on Austin's personal life since his divorce from former wife Tania who is the head of fashion chain Decjuba. She has lived in Toorak since moving up from Geelong after the marriage break-up.
There is no official confirmation of the price of the Georgian-style mansion on Towers Road, Toorak but it is understood to have fallen short of the Melbourne record of $24 million.
Property Observer gleans its sold for around $21 million, a very healthy result. Fairfax Media, whose initial price estimate was $25 million, have since suggested their $21.5 million revised price estimate represented a "bargain."
One Towers Road, Toorak, last traded when Brian Watson and Edwina Le Maistre secured the 3,900 square metre property in July 2001. Brian Watson is a private investor with extensive experience in the finance sector, including 16 years with JPMorgan in New York and Melbourne, and most recently as a founding member of the Board of Guardians of the Future Fund.
Its Kay and Burton listing agent Michael Gibson has been tight-lipped on the details of the latest sale with only a sold notice up on realestate.com.au.
The Watson family bought the six bedroom Toorak property in 2001 for $11.1 million, a then record-setting price from businessman John Elliott.
The highest known sale in Toorak this year was about $16.65 million when property developer and architect Gabor Hubay and wife Roni sold their sprawling 3 Macquarie Road estate after it was listed last November. The Hubay-designed five bedroom, seven bathroom house with a theatre, a gym and a seven-car basement garage, sits on a 2100-square-metre property.
Cotton On announced last year it would build a $500 million distribution and warehousing centre in its home base, the regional Victorian city of Geelong.