Price floor found for prestige as Angela Fleming spends $12.4 million on Point Piper apartment

Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Mining executive Ian Stolyar's Point Piper apartment (pictured above) has been snappily sold for around $12.4 million by the mortgagee-in-possession.

Last traded officially at $13 million in 2010, it was marketed by LJ Hooker Double Bay agent Bill Malouf with cautious initial expectations of more than $10 million.

It ended up with three local buyers who lodged offers above $12 million.

Malouf declined to give the precise sale price or buyer identity, who Property Observer gleaned from elsewhere to be Angela Fleming, the widow of supermarket tycoon Jim Fleming.

The prestige apartment sale comes against the backdrop of reduced turnover of prestige houses which has led into the continued restrained trickle of prestige apartment sales to empty nesters, widows invariably accompanied by their pets.

"This sale underpins the prestige apartment market," Bill Malouf told me.

But typically it's just a slow task bringing local buyers, sellers and prices into alignment.

Slow negotiations because the Sydney house needs to be sold before any downsized purchase. And the buyers who've typically been spending little on upkeep at their own house have to get use to the idea of community living and its accompanying strata levey, which in this case sits at $6,500 a quarter. Strata levies can impede sales.

It's a different matter with offshore buyers who continue to snap up the prestige apartments at pace, including the penthouse in the Residence overlooking Hyde Park at $17 million in August along with earlier sales including the $8.1 million Lumiere penthouse in the Sydney CBD, both sold through Savills.

This Point Piper offering was a whole-fifth floor luxury apartment with high-end finishes, spacious 495-square-metre floor plan and water views towards the Harbour Bridge. It came with about 386 square metre internal space, so equating to about $32,000 a square metre.

Designed by POPOVbass architects, the apartment is in a harbourside Buckhurst Avenue block of six apartments.

The Maryborough Coal director's purchase of the four-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment was the dearest, and first, in the block of six paying $13 million in 2010 with NAB mortgage. It comes with a a second subsequent mortgage to a family member.

The sales that followed in the Elk development included the penthouse sale in late 2010 which was officially registered as $12,245,000. With 495 square metres of space, of which 430 square metres was internal, it sold to the Ingham family. There was an $11.6 million sale to lawyer John Roth and his wife, Jillian Segal; architect Harold Finger and his wife, Rebecca, bought into the block for $10 million, as did printing magnate Graeme Kirk. The last to buy were financier and arts philanthropist Simon Mordant and wife Catriona, who paid $10.8 million in 2011.

I recall looking at the apartments in 2011 impressed by the design by architect Alex Popov, with interiors by Ruth Levine Designs, following two years of construction, listed through Bill Malouf and Ken Jacobs of Christie's with the prices at just under or over $30,000 a square metre.

The Seven Shillings Beach holding cost $40 million in 2007, when it was bought by Elk Developments from West Australian mining family the Wrights.

The apartments all had about 390 square metre of internal space, with an additional 30 square metres of wintergarden balcony terrace (with gas barbecues), which comes with fully retractable glass doors.

They had four bedrooms (one designed as a home office) and four bathrooms.

The main suites have harbour views.

Some came with the rare prospect of same-floor parking for four cars.

The shared gardens at the water's edge come with cabana, gym, sauna and barbecue area. 

Bill Malouf's next Point Piper prestige apartment challenge is the George family's recently completed triplex. They've given it a Wolseley Road address, although when the 989 square metre site was bought for $7.025 million in 2003 from the Vargas family, it came as a Longworth Avenue address. I recall at its 2003 auction the Hong Kong-based Vargas family had $6 million-plus expectations for the then four-bedroom 1930s house, with a self-contained two-bedroom flat. There were three bidders after it was called on the market by auctioneer David Scholes at $6.725 million. Selling agent Bart Doff, from Laing & Simmons Double Bay, had previously sold it in 2000 for $4.225 million for Bill and Imelda Roche. 

It's now being marketed by Malouf as "164 Wolseley Road, Ercole Palazzetti's glorious swansong and final architectural project." With northerly harbour views across Shark Island,  it has battle-axe access to Lady Martins Beach.

It was 2005 when the retired late grocery tycoon Jim Fleming and his wife, Angela paid $17 million for the Bellevue Hill residence, Donnington Grange. The 1842-square metre Drumalbyn Road estate, comes with five-bedroom house and 10-car underground garaging. 

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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