Tony Fung of Aquis loses out on expensive penthouse on Gold Coast

IT has its own private pool and spa, with six rooms and an internal glass lift, but this penthouse did not see any returns for its owner after it was sold early last month.

Tony Fung (Aquis) is selling his penthouse before he's even lived in it.

HONG Kong billionaire and casino owner Tony Fung very quietly set fire to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of “chips’’ in an ill-fated investment in a Gold Coast penthouse.

Mr Fung bought the “raw’’ four-level penthouse in the 77-level Soul super-tower from receivers for $7 million in 2015. He has now sold it for $6.5 million.

The view from the penthouse. Picture Mike Batterham

The 1040 sqm apartment was put on the market in February at $7.95 million in a move that received national and international exposure.

It has been sold in a deal that property records show was signed on June 14 and settled two weeks later.

Tony Fung (Aquis) is selling his penthouse before he's even lived in it.

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The buyer is a company owned by 40-year-old Sydneysider Andrew Koloadin, who started website hosting business Digital Pacific 18 years ago and sold it to a US group for $52 million last year.

Michael Kollosche, of Kollosche Prestige Agents, would not comment yesterday on the penthouse sale.

The private pool and spa.

The reason given in February for Mr Fung selling the property was that while he was on the Gold Coast, he was happy to live on his boat, the Asteria, or at Aquis Farm, his 447ha racehorse breeding property at Canungra.

The penthouse sits more than 220 metres above sea level and has Queensland’s highest private pool and spa.

Soul Penthouse, Gold Coast

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Mr Fung bought it, via Aquis Soul Investments, as a shell and employed architectural firm BVN to create a bespoke design.

An upshot was that the penthouse today has approval for a larger internal living area.

It already has six en suite bedrooms, a double-storey lobby and a glass internal lift.

The 67-year-old Mr Fung owns the Canberra casino, which lost $13.8 million in its latest year, and has had casino aspirations on the Gold Coast and Cairns.

His Surfers Paradise holdings include an approved hotel site and a one-third holding in a full city block known as the Vomitron site, which is on the market.