Realtor and millionaire in legal stoush over Vaucluse mansion sale
A high-end Sydney real estate agent is taking a millionaire hotel tycoon to court, claiming he owes her more than $200,000 from the sale of his $20 million harbourside Vaucluse home.
NSW
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A feud is brewing between an elite realtor and a successful hotelier over the sale of a $20 million harbourside mansion — and an eye-watering commission.
In one corner is Alison Coopes, the prestige agent who specialises in the sale of luxury property in the city’s waterfront suburbs.
In the other is Marcus Levy, a millionaire hotelier who sold one Vaucluse mansion for $20.8 million to buy another for $28 million a few doors down.
At the centre of the dispute is Mr Levy’s former $20.8 million abode, an “architectural triumph” at 39 Wentworth Rd.
Mr Levy is the proprietor of Marvan Hotels, which counts the Evening Star, the Westmead and The Bald Faced Stag among its properties, and sold the sprawling property in 2018.
Ms Coopes, who heads Agency by Alison Coopes, has a stunning sales history — from the $61.8 million Altona house in Point Piper to a $47.8 million estate in Vaucluse.
According to allegations to be aired in court, Ms Coopes was the agent contracted by Mr Levy to sell the sprawling five bedroom, five bathroom, three-car garage home.
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Ms Coopes had originally sold the property to Mr Levy for $6.36 million in 2015.
However, 65 days after Mr Levy put the family home on the market in 2018, the property was sold not by Ms Coopes but through a joint campaign by Danny Doff from Laing & Simmons and Michael Pallier Sotheby’s International Realty.
Mr Levy had entered into a separate agreement with those agents.
Sources say Ms Coopes alleges she originally introduced Mr Levy to the buyer — Jing Wang — and was therefore entitled to a commission as per their agreement.
Houses of this value generally have an agent’s commission of between 1 and 1.5%, representing between $200,000-$300,000, which Ms Coopes claims should contractually have been hers.
Ms Coopes, through her company Eastern Prime Pty Ltd, has started legal proceedings against Mr Levy in the NSW District Court.
Mr Levy declined to comment when contacted on Thursday.
He now lives in an equally palatial, five-bedroom home on Wentworth Rd, which he purchased in 2018 for $28 million, with his wife, Vanessa Sanchez-Levy, and their three children.
The stunning house comes with a boathouse, 1000-bottle wine cellar, infinity pool, gym and spa.
Former Aerobics Oz Style star Mrs Sanchez-Levy is the daughter of Spanish-born property developer Michael Sanchez.
The court case is scheduled for mention in the District Court on July 7.