Steven Lowy confirmed as the $14.2 million buyer of Camp Cove offering
Steven Lowy, the retailing family scion, has been finally confirmed as the mystery $14.2 million buyer of a rare Camp Cove offering.
The confirmation comes after he and wife Judy lodged plans to add the acquisition into their existing compound where their three land acquisitions have totalled $25.7 million.
They have been on the beach at Watsons Bay since 1991 when they commissioned a contemporary house by Allen Jack Cottier, which won the 1994 Wilkinson Award for outstanding architecture.
The Lowys bought their original beachfront block from nightclub owner Robbie Griff for $2.5 million, ignoring previously approved Rod Learoyd house plans in favour of a design by Peter Stronach.
It was late last year when the 525 square metre beachfront Victoria Street block with a single level weatherboard cottage sold under the hammer.
It was knocked down the veteran property developer Philip Wolanski, who advised he was representing an undisclosed buyer.
It was quickly mooted they were the neighbours, the Lowy family.
Held for over nine decades, it was sold by the Webb family.
The Valuer General had previously valued the property at $8.5 million.
The neighbours have bolstered the Lowy's approval prospects by writing a letter to "support Steven and Judy Lowy's proposed plans".
The $2.1 million plans lodged by Tim Allison Associates include rebuilding a sea wall and adding a new landscaped beachfront garden for privacy and re-opening the veranda.
They even plan to reinstate chimneys.
The Lowy's three adjoining beachfront properties along the beach total 2,590 square metres.
The family's prior expansion came in 2009 spending $9 million on another 1,000 square metres bought from Karen Beck, using another mate, Simon Wilkenfeld as the purchasing stalking horse.
This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.
