Who bought and sold on Hedges Ave in exclusive Gold Coast Millionaire’s Row, Mermaid Beach
The list of people to have bought and sold on Hedges Ave is a roll call of players who have won in games of business, development and luck on the Gold Coast. WHO OWNS WHAT ON MILLIONAIRE’S ROW >>>
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ITS nickname, now Multi-Millionaire’s Row, says it all — Hedges Ave is the premier address on the Gold Coast, with its glittering beachfront drawing movers and shakers from Australia and beyond for more than 30 years.
The extensive list of people who have bought and sold on Hedges is a veritable roll call of players who have won, lost and then won again in games of business, development and luck on the Gold Coast.
In 1984 the average price for 405-square-metre beachfront lots in Hedges Ave was $330,000. It rose to $750,000 in the following 10 years.
In January 2000 a run-down beach cottage on a 405sq m corner site sold for a record $1.34 million or $3308 a square metre.
In October last year, the price per square metre was four times that at $12,098 a square metre, with a knockdown beach shack on 405sq m selling for $4.9 million.
LIST: Gold Coast’s richest people
While many residents come and go, there are a rare few who resist the pull of an easy buck – including one owner who bought in for $280,000 in 1984 and hasn’t budged since.
For years, frugal penny pinchers with old money have competed with flashy, cash-splashy newcomers for the 120-odd homes with odd numbers – the beach side – along the 2km avenue.
So, as the Gold Coast enjoys one of its characteristic property booms, who currently has a prime game piece on a square of Hedges?
We have scoured property records, agent listings and newspaper archives to find out.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Number 1: Set on the border where Hedges meets Albatross Ave, this colourful blue beach house is listed on records as being owned by Raymond Leslie Schultz since he paid $820,00 for it in 1994.
Number 3: A luxury three-level home inspired by an architecture from the Greek Islands, the five-bedroom property, which is known as Kalimera, is listed on property records as being owned by AJPP, a company owned by John Sophios. The house was also rumoured to have been home to actor Brad Pitt in 2002 while he was filming The Fountain on the Gold Coast before the project was cancelled.
Number 5: Sporting a distinctive round front window, this beach house was owned by Marie and Ronald Duke, a former grazier, from 1994 until they sold it for $3.05 million in 2013. The new owner, Melbourne-based Bluserena, is a company owned by Alba and Nicola Bernardo.
Number 7: This two-storey, mustard-hued home is listed on records as owned by Cheryl Zavattaro since its last sale at $927,000 in 1998. The property occupies a 405sq m block.
Numbers 9-11: This vision in Hamptons grey is owned by billionaire-turned-millionaire-turned-politician-turned-billionaire Clive Palmer. Mr Palmer paid former owner John Potter $12 million for the five-bedroom 2006-built home on an 809sq m block in 2018.
Number 13: Another former John Potter home, he sold this one in 2011 for $4.25 million to current owner Loy Nixon.
Number 17: The one-time home to one-time Indy boss, now Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane has an interesting sales history. Mr Cochrane sold it for $9 million to developer Robert Badalotti in 2007, who sold it to controversial trade dollars company Contrabart for $4.1 million as a rebated sale. Contrabart, of which Mr Badalotti is a long-time associate, then sold it for $4.1 million to Mermaid Property Group, a company owned and directed by none other than Mr Badalotti, who lives there still.
Number 19: Is fittingly owned by prestige property agent Amir Mian and his wife Soraya. The Mians bought it from Christopher Chee Weng Chwee for $4.705 million in 2019.
Number 21: One of the few remaining old beach houses in the street, the property has reportedly been held by James Carolan since he bought it for $670,000 in 1992. It was advertised for rent at $1125 a week in 2018.
Number 23: Brisbane chemist Don Gardiner and wife Colleen built a home here after paying a record $3.2 million for the 405sq m vacant site in 2002. The sale was credited with lifting the price per square metre along Hedges to $7901. The Chemmart boss doesn’t live in the two-storey home – it was listed for rent at $1450 a week in 2014 and appears to remain under lease.
Number 25: Catherine Ellis bought a 1970s shack on this site for $6.5 million from Angelo and Carmela DiCarlo in 2017. It’s since been replaced with a modern two-storey home. The older-style brick-and-tile home previously changed hands for $1.4 million in 1998 after being owned by the family of Queensland legal pioneer Sir John Rowell for almost 50 years.
Number 27: An imposing Mediterranean-style mansion owned by self-made former Bookworld businessman Terry Herbert. The property changed hands in 1995 for $1.075 million.
Number 29: Known as Sandcastles, this beachhouse reaped former owner businessman George Lee a profit of $2 million in just four months when he sold it for $5 million in May 2002 to Lizoe Pty Ltd, a company associated with Brisbane’s Edward Benson and Julie Hancock, which remains the listed owner.
Number 31: Records show George Thomas Challenger, father of Medcall founder Dr Thomas Challenger, nabbed this one for $5.4 million in 2011, just three years after it was sold for $11.15 million to Galt Commodities. That company was linked to former AFL star Rod Galt, who struck financial difficulties linked to a lawsuit in 2009. Previous owners of the home also include racehorse owner and Coral Homes operator Paul Sweeney.
Numbers 33-41: This sprawling 1620sq m site used to host three homes, including a bright purple and yellow, two-storey beach shack owned by Noosa art gallery owner Adrian Slinger.
Also bowled to make way for the current mansion was a home owned by Simone Smith, wife of Tony Smith, former CEO of holiday company BreakFree. That renovated home set a new residential record for a beachfront house when it was snapped up by the Smiths in late 2002 for $6.35 million.
Before it was even finished, the current mansion set a record for an incomplete build, selling to former IT tycoon Daniel Tzvetkoff for $27 million in 2008.
Current owners Deidre and Peter Mitchell, who run drilling company Mitchell Services, bought it a year later for $10 million less.
Numbers 43-45: The tri-level mansion that once sat at No.43 held the record for a beachfront site in the street and the highest-priced house on the Gold Coast in the early 2000s. It was sold by Alan Thiess prior to auction for more than $10 million in November 2002. Thiess is the son of construction and mining pioneer Sir Leslie Thiess.
The amalgamated site, bought for $10.15 million in 2003 by lotteries entrepreneur David Railton Kennedy, now hosts a massive two-storey beachfront mansion.
Number 47: Highgrove Bathrooms boss Lindsay Sinclair is building a Hamptons-style home on this site he purchased as a vacant lot for $4.6 million in 2017.
Previous owners include former Pura Milk boss Ken Lacey and wife Madeleine and show business entrepreneur Michael Edgley. Former Sydney bookmaker Terry Page has also had a mansion on the site. American singer Diana Ross paid Mr Page $20,000 for a two-week stay in the 1990s and declared it the best little beach house in the world.
Number 49: Lisa and Andrew Quinn have put forward plans for an ultra-modern five-bedroom home on this 405sq m site at 49 Hedges Ave, which they picked up for $4.175 million in 2019.
Numbers 51-53: Previous owners in this huge Tuscan-style duplex include former Leda Queensland executive and author Brian McNiven, who bought the site for $1.425 million in 1994. Billabong founder Gordon Merchant and bookmaker Terry Page have also owned villas there.
Current owners include Terry and Holly Herbert, who paid $5.95 million in 2016, and Eurogold Developments, linked to the Smorgon family, which paid $5.5 million in 2010.
Number 55: Core Logic data says head honcho of Harvey Norman in Queensland, Steve Cavalier, sold this site for $6.05 million in 2007, six years after buying it from Ken and Madeleine Lacey for $1.65 million. The current owners, plastic surgeon Eddie Shu Cheng and wife Leisa Maree, bought it for $3.75 million in 2012.
Number 57: Mr Cavalier is also a previous owner of this one, having sold it for $6.65 million in 2007. It was most recently sold in 2013 by Phillippa Head, who sold it for $4.7 million to Vanessa Tolhurst, wife of sleep specialist Sean Tolhurst.
Number 59: This block of units on the corner of Seabeach Ave sold for $5.2 million in April 2020. The property was marketed as a deceased estate which had not changed hands for 58 years. Its previous owners purchased it before Core Logic records began.
Number 65: Former owners Deidre and Peter Mitchell sold the home on this site for $4.9 million in October 2020 to a company linked to architects Harry and Alexander Poulos.
Number 67-69: Mr and Mrs Mitchell outlaid $200,000 for the 405sq m block at No.67 in 1981, while they paid $5 million for No.69 in 2005. Core Logic records show they sold both to Sara Kirby for $5.15 million each in 2019.
Number 71: Located on the southeast corner of Seaside Ave, the 405sq m property, set on one of the street’s highest peaks, was sold for $4.75 million in 2016, by husband and wife David McMahon and Maxine Horne, who ran mobile phone retailer Fone Zone. The couple bought the property for $1.345 million as an old beach house at a highly publicised auction in 2000 that attracted national coverage and a crowd of more than 500.
The current owners are listed as companies linked to Dennis Milin and Louise Dobson.
Number 73: Pie-making millionaire Frank Goldstein and wife Regina called this address home for 20 years from 1987, when they paid $670,000 for it. They sold it to real estate agent Kym Atherton, wife of Harcourts Coastal boss Dane, for $4.775 million in 2016.
Number 77: Core Logic records show the unassuming two-level beach house was bought by property industry figure Adrian Bruce Jeanes, developer of several commercial and residential projects on the Gold Coast, for $1.2 million in 1994.
Numbers 79-83: Developer Barry Morris snapped up the house at No.79 at auction for $6.8 million in 2007, having bought the apartment block next door the previous year for $12.75 million. He demolished both, building a vast beach pad on the 1212sq m site.
The apartment block had been owned by cinema operator Terry Jackman, who bought the property for $1.85 million in 1996.
Number 89: Chemist Terry White and wife Debby, bought the 405sq m block occupied by an original older-style home for $1.632 million in January 2001. They sold it for $3.7 million in 2004 to Yarrayne, a company linked to California-based David Peter Jackson. Actor Jason Momoa reportedly stayed there in 2017 during the filming of Aquaman.
Number 91: Property records show this four-bedder was purchased by pathologist Lloyd McGuire and wife Irene in 2011 for $4.17 million. It was sold by the executors of the estate of Melburnian Max Chapman who had used it as a holiday home since 1978.
Number 93: John Jamieson, a wealthy Queensland property developer-investor and former Queensland Events chairman, sold this one to Sandra and Alexander Salter for $5.6 million in 2015.
Numbers 95-97: Construction industry veteran Mick Power and wife Denise, plan a move after spending a record-breaking $15.5 million on this land.
The couple bought both blocks from Bridget Deer, wife of Ignite Travel founder Randall Deer.
Ms Deer bought No. 95 from commercial pilot Andrew Seaton for $4.8 million in August 2019. Mr Seaton had bought the beachfront home for $3.476 million in 2013.
Ms Deer picked up No. 97 for $5.6 million in 2019.
Number 99: Self-made businessman, property industry figure Chris Buist and wife Marion bought this block for $950,000 in 1994 and later built a luxury home.
Current owners Janine Edwards and Robert Allison picked up the picture-perfect yellow-and-white home for $6.395 million in 2019.
Number 101: This property was owned by commercial property developer Tim Gordon, whose Gordon Corp is now undertaking a $94 million development on The Spit. He bought the 405sq m block, occupied by an original 1970-80s brick-and-tile home for $2.5 million in January 2002.
He offloaded it for twice that two years later. Its current owner is a company owned by Cyril Jinks, who bought it with then-wife Wendy for $3.75 million in 2012.
Number 103-105: Pub baron Bruce Mathieson picked up this home on a double-block for $11.6 million in 2018. Cotton farmer Alan Frost paid about $6.6 million for it in June 2014 as part of a mortgagee multi-sale involving companies linked to former V8 Supercars driver and businessman Mark Howard. Mr Frost went on to land a cool $5 million above that purchase price in less than four years.
Number 107: A sizeable 809sq m chunk comprising a block of units known as Pandanus 66. There are eight units in the block, with owners having picked them up for between $148,000 and $1.24 million. They were previously owned by Broken Arrow (Qld), which was also associated with developer Mark Howard.
Number 111: Shop-fitting industry figure Scott Headland filed plans for a four-storey luxury unit block to replace an existing mansion on this 769sq m absolute beachfront block.
Known as Little Dune, the home was owned by Russell Leary, a developer and management rights specialist who bought the property for $1.9 million in February 2000. The family then sold it in 2001 for $2.8 million, realised they had made a mistake and bought it back for $3.5 million. In August 2003 they decided to sell it again, reaping a profit of $3.2 million the second time around. Records show Mr Headland bought the property for $6 million in August 2002. He listed it for sale at $9.495 million late last year, but it is not currently being advertised for sale.
Number 115: This rendered yellow home is listed as belonging to Elva McIntyre of Everton Park.
Number 117: This property is owned by Bell Co, a company directed by Brisbane property players Kate and Richard Bell. They picked it up for $5.75 million in 2006 from RPD Qld, associated with Brisbane businessman Raymond Catelan and Oaklands, NSW, businessman Dennis Catelan, who bought it in 2006 for $6.5 million from developer Gregory Pearsall.
Number 123: John Potter picked this up as a knockdown from David Railton Kennedy for $6.95 million in 2019. The Kennedy family had picked it up for $3.55 million in 2001.
Mr Potter built a two-level, four-bedroom family mansion on the site last year.
Number 127: The 607sq m parcel was once owned by Dreamworld creator John Longhurst, who bought it as a vacant block for $1.02 million in 1989. He sold it for $6.3 million to Michael Brosnan, owner of health science company Metagenics, and his wife Benita, in 2017, and they’ve since built a beautiful new house there. The Brosnans reportedly forfeited a sizeable deposit on 25 Hedges Ave, after contracting to buy it for $6.5 million and deciding they didn’t want it after all, snapping up No.127 instead.
Number 129: This is listed as owned by Louise Gordon, who picked it up for $1.55 million in 2000. An old green house has since been replaced by a huge white one.
Number 131: This modest home was owned by Nora and Kevin Joyce, who sold it in June 2021 to supplements businessman Michael Brosnan for $6.6m.
Number 133: A brand new dream mansion built by Nine Gold Coast news co-presenter Eva Milic and husband Marcus Dore. The block was bought under the Eva Dore name for $4.4 million in February 2018. An old beach shack was demolished to make way for the luxury five-bedroom home.
Number 135: RP Data records show the home is owned by Ana and Pascal Cussinet, who paid $5.3 million in 2019. Previous owners were surgeon Paul Allison and Janine Edwards who’d had it for 20 years.
Number 137: Has been owned by Tim Gordon and wife Karin since 2003 – although they nearly lost it in 2012 after liquidators were appointed to companies linked to his First State Group. Mr Gordon paid Lisa Perrin, former wife of former Billabong executive Scott Perrin, $4.4 million for the home. The site was bought by Mrs Perrin for $730,000 in May 1993.
Number 141: Nava Abedian, wife of Sunland Group managing-director Sahba Abedian, scooped a record $17.5m for this twin-title 900sq m beachfront lot, selling to PointsBet chief marketing officer Andrew Fahey. Ms Abedian had purchased it for $11 million 15 months earlier. The previous owner was minerals explorer John Lynch, who uncovered the 405sq m block for $821,000 in 1988.
Number 143: Units in the eight-unit Parthenon walk-up block have sold between $615,000 and $1.825 million – the latter selling just a week ago.
Number 147: Lot one is owned by Terry and Kaye Mackenzie, who bought it for $3.7 million in 2013, from a company owned by Timothy Fitzsimmons.
Lot two is owned by Robyn and Alfred Vockler. They purchased it from Lorraine and Max Beck, a Melbourne developer, for $3.2 million in 2011.
Number 151: For more than six decades, the 1952 shack at 151 Hedges Ave was entrenched in the lives of sisters Cynthia O’Reilly and Stephanie FitzGerald. Affectionately named Coolamaine after the Irish town the sisters’ grandfather migrated from, the 450sq m block was purchased in 1949 by their late father Keith O’Reilly. It was listed for sale for $4.5 million in 2015 but remains in the family.
Number 153: This property is owned by White Retail Group associated with chemist Terry White. The company bought the site for $1.025 million in April 1998. It is occupied by a luxury home.
Number 155: Owned by Alida Hickey, wife of high-profile Gold Coast lawyer Tony Hickey. Property records shed no light on how long the family has owned the home, or what they paid for it. However, its most recent land valuation was $4.6 million.
Number 157: Owned by Peter Strophair, a Brisbane property agent. He and wife Julienne bought their Hedges holding for $280,000 in 1984. He is the founder of general auction and valuation service company Peter J. Strophair & Associates, linked to several high-profile deals.
Number 159: A Melbourne buyer set the pace for the 2021 market in February, picking up this four-level home for $15.75 million. The buyer was Modara Grange Pty Ltd, whose directors include Computershare co-founder Chris Morris. The home was built by Jill Mathieson, wife of Melbourne hotelier Bruce. Former owners also include management rights specialist Frank Picone.
Number 161: Lot one of this duplex is owned by Penny-Anne and Richard Burgess, who picked it up for $4 million in 2015. Sharing the building is Gordon Baxter, a director of loan company Babapen.
Number 163-165: The Calca Court walk-up does not have any sales data available on Core Logic, apart from ownership of lot 20 by Simon Lee.
Number 167: Frank Mesiano is listed owner of this who bought it for $3.3 million from developer Jack Ray. Mr Ray had paid $5.85 million in 2008.
Number 169: This property is a duplex, “Schern Haus”. Chief commercial officer of coffee-machine maker the De’Longhi Group, Paul Accornerno, purchased the $2.825 million second-floor villa five years after buying the ground-floor villa for $2.75 million. Both buys by the Hong Kong-based executive have been made in tandem with Susan Ng.
It has previously been owned by car dealer Warren Von Bibra and wife Sally, who bought the four-bedroom villa for $1 million in September 1994.
Number 187-191: Billionaire developer Bob Ell and wife Bridget paid a record-breaking $22.6 million for this five-bedroom mansion on 1214sq m in September 2020. The property was built for racing industry figure and former realtor David Henderson and family. It was completed in 2012.
Number 193-197: Hang in there, this one is complex. Trisco Holdings, associated with Ian and Merrilyn Tristram, bought No.193 in 1978, while No.197 two doors down is owned by Stuart and Diane Bowden, who bought their property for $690,000 in 1990.
These two owners last struck a deal with the owner of No.195 to buy the older-style house that separates the two properties, demolish the house, and each take half of the 405sq m site.
No.195 has been owned by long-term Gold Coast doctor Allan Deed, who is in his 90s and bought it for $260,000 in 1986.
Number 199: Management rights industry figure Frank Piccone bought the half-completed home from Michael Edgley in January 2003 for $6.25 million. Piccone spent more than $1 million on renovating the interior, which spans three levels, and includes a rooftop deck, two kitchens, one with a teppanyaki grill, a home theatre, a gym and a steam room. He sold it to racing car driver Max Twig for $17.5 million in 2007, and Mr Twig took a $10 million bath selling it in 2011 for $7.7 million to United Petroleum director Avi Silver.
Number 201: Developer Jack Ray is listed as owner of this one, having purchased it for $5.35 million in 2011 from Donna and Craig Loynes.
Number 203: One half of this duplex is owned by Lisa Perrin, who nabbed it for $9 million in 2006. Lauren Gdanski is listed owner of unit 2, having purchased it for $4.4 million in 2012.
Number 205: Bought by car dealer Warren Von Bibra and wife Sally for $5.850 million in January 2003. The property spans a larger than average 809sq m block, close to Broadbeach and Mermaid surf club. The property was previously owned by Gold Coast investor Barry Stone, who had held the site since the 1970s.
Numbers 209-211: Another luxury townhouse development. Billionaire veteran Melbourne property player Max Beck paid $7.5 million for his villa in 2011, while Kieran Gibbons, from Broadbeach Waters, paid $6.7 million in 2020.
Number 213: Owned by Harvey Norman boss Steve Cavalier, a long-time Hedges resident who bought the home for $19 million in 2006 from publican Jerry Pilarinos. Mr Pilarinos had bought it two years earlier from agent Harry Kakavas.
Number 215: Brian Gibson’s late mother, Barbie, bought it in 1958 for a few thousand pounds, then passed it down to her three sons before Brian and Janette bought out Brian’s brothers for $140,000 in 1985. The Gibsons lived in the home for 17 years before selling out of the street for $4.4 million in 2019. The new owner is listed as Tonga Lau.
Number 217: Mary Cummins is the first owner listed for this property, and remains the current owner. The records do not say how much Ms Cummins paid for her beach pad, but it was listed for sale in 2011 “reduced to $475,000”. We imagine she’s glad it didn't sell at that price, given it’s likely worth many times more than that in 2021.
Numbers 219-221: This four-level duplex is listed as owned by Leonid Eshchenko, who property records say picked it up under an “extraordinary circumstances” for $0 from company Service Business World, owned by his son Ruslan Eshchenko, in 1998. It was previously owned by original white-shoe developer Keith Williams.
Number 223: Owned by Lynnette McManaway, who runs a medical centre conglomerate and farming operations in New Zealand with husband Shane. It was purchased in 2019 for $6.325 million from Fitness First founder Tony de Leede, who had paid $7.3 million in 2009.
Number 225-229: The owners are by long-time Hedges residents Terry and Jodie Jackman. Property records say the pair paid $8 million to create the 1214sq m triple block in 2006, taking it over from Allan and Pam Reed.
Number 231: Glen and Rhonda White paid $1.135 million for this orange-coloured, two-storey home in 1988. Mr White founded property valuation group Landmark White on the Gold Coast more than 20 years ago.
Number 235: This five-level beachfront home was constructed in 2001 and was purchased for $3.2 million in June of that year by David Sarin. The sale surpassed the record at the time for the highest price paid for residential property in Hedges Ave. The home was built by builder Mark Collyer who purchased the site from Brian Dowling in August 1999 for $1.15 million. Mr Sarin sold it to current owner SP Morrissy, linked to Melbourne businessmen Shane and Paul Morrissy, in 2017 for $5.625 million.
Number 237: Prominent Gold Coast property seller Wendy Dalton bought into this home with her husband Gary in 1993 for $690,000 and sold out for $6.75 million in 2008. The home hasn’t reached that heady price since, selling for $3.65 million in 2011 and for $3.35 million in 2013 to the current owner, a company held by neurosurgeon Scott Campbell and wife Anne.
Number 239: This four-level home was last sold for $6.1 million by Maree Anderson to Shirley Fairhall in 2016. Records show a previous owner was Hedges Ave Pty Ltd, associated with Gold Coast property identity Bruce Tilley. Ms Fairhall is director of New Zealand Archibalds Motor Holdings, which are agents for Audi, Porsche and other luxury car brands in Christchurch.
Number 241: Records show it had been jointly held by lawyer Tony Hickey and developer Tom Ray, who bought it for $2.85 million in 2001. It was sold for $8.7 million in 2007 to farmer Alan Frost, who sold it at auction to the current owners for $4 million in 2014. Currently owned by a company held by neurosurgeon Scott Campbell and wife Anne, who also hold No.237.
Number 243-245: This holding was sold last year by Alan Frost for $11.25 million. He paid $2.92 million for the home, set on an 809sq m site, in 2000 and had a four-storey development approved in 2018 but did not proceed with the project. New owners Yvonne McPhee and husband Jay are long-time Gold Coast property players. Mr McPhee runs a logistics company that carries the family name.
Number 247: This distinctive yellow building, with its steeply gabled roofs, is dubbed “The Beach House” and owned by LJ Hooker Commercial boss Anna Tooma. Property records suggest Ms Tooma picked it up for $5 million in 2010 from company Walnut Peak, linked to Melbourne investors John Rose and Timothy Rice, which had paid $9.5 million for it in February 2008.
Number 249: Listed as owned by Patricia and John Barrett, who picked it up for $1 million in June 1997.
Number 251: Owned by former BHP steel boss and former chairman of engineering firm Worley Parsons Ron McNeilly and wife Vicki. The McNeillys bought the home for $7.5 million in 2007 from John Potter-linked company Vasco, which had paid $6 million just three months earlier.
Originally published as Who bought and sold on Hedges Ave in exclusive Gold Coast Millionaire’s Row, Mermaid Beach
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