Antony Catalano hoping for $35m for his beachfront St Kilda penthouse in Tim Gurner building
Businessman Antony Catalano is hoping for the second-highest price struck for an apartment when he sells his penthouse in Tim Gurner’s Saint Moritz development.
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Antony Catalano is hoping his two-story penthouse in the inner-city beachside suburb of St Kilda will be the second most expensive apartment to change hands in Melbourne property history as the striking beachfront six-bedder hits the market.
The outspoken media entrepreneur says agents are quoting $33m to $36m for his apartment in Tim Gurner’s Saint Moritz complex. That would come in below the top price achieved for an apartment in Victoria, being the $39m penthouse apartment in SP Setia’s Sapphire by the Gardens development bought by Adrian Portelli in 2023.
Catalano paid $30m in 2018, then spent $2m upgrading floor boards, stone benches, floors and showers to his own tastes.
The apartment was designed by Melbourne interior designer David Hicks, and it features 6m glass panels never seen before in a residential project in Australia, providing uninterrupted views of St Kilda Beach, Port Phillip Bay and the city skyline.
Catalano is selling because he never ended up moving into the property, having decamped to Byron Bay with his wife, Steffanie, and nine children at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He was never tempted back to the colder climes of Victoria.
The former journalist already had a taste for the beachside NSW haven, having snapped up arguably Australia’s best beach hotel, Raes on Wategos, in 2014.
“I’ve bought four adjoining properties in Wategos to build a family compound,” he said. “The kids are at school here. Three of them are at Byron Primary, the fourth youngest is in year 8 at Byron High, two are at uni and three have finished uni.”
Catalano’s St Kilda apartment has hosted a number of high-profile events, including the Aston Martin Grand Prix after-party and private gatherings for musicians such as PAWSA.
His business partner, Alex Waislitz, also owns an apartment in the Saint Moritz development, and cricketer Shane Warne had purchased a $10m apartment in the same complex before his sudden death. That property sold to a director of Australian retail apparel giant Cotton On.
The second-highest price for a Melbourne apartment was in 2022 when a junior penthouse sold in what was to be Melbourne’s tallest building, STH BNK, for $35m. The future of that tower is under a cloud after its project management company fell into administration.
Catalano’s property in the Saint Moritz complex is on the seventh and eighth floors and runs the entire length of the building. It has a 25m lap pool, a gym, three-elevator lift access including a direct lift to a private garage with eight bays that can fit 12 cars and has wine storage.
“It’s like living in a hotel,” he said.
Marcus Chiminello and John Bongiorno of Marshall White are handling the sale.
Top-priced sales are starting to hit their straps across the Victorian capital. They include two penthouses sold off-the-plan last year in Orchard Piper’s Toorak Village project for a combined $23m.
And the central business district is returning to focus as new developments are completed. Those include the penthouse of Collins House and a junior or sub-penthouse in Sapphire by the Gardens.
Both are being handled by Nancy Monitto, director for Colliers Residential Victoria. The two-level penthouse atop the 60-level Collins House in Melbourne has views of Port Phillip Bay and the Dandenong Ranges and is on the market with a $17m price tag.
It is being offered by MaxCap Group executive director Brae Sokolski, who is a part-owner of Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant.
These prices are nothing compared with the figures being notched up for Sydney apartments.
Big ticket sales, including the $140m penthouse at One Sydney Harbour at Barangaroo in 2019 and $64.5m for the three sub-penthouses in Mirvac’s Harbourside Residences tower in Darling Harbour, show prices in Sydney remain high.
Prospective buyers are believed to be currently circling the $90m penthouse at Crown Sydney also at Barangaroo.
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