$9 million sale marks shocking CBD home record

This two-storey prestige apartment sold for more than the penthouse of former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

Brisbane’s CBD has seen its biggest residential sale ever, with a huge two-storey apartment selling for $9 million this week.

The home at 2802/140 Alice St, Brisbane City, has four bedrooms and five bathrooms across its two floors, sitting in the upper floors of the prestigious Abian Tower.

The Abian’s previous best sales were for its penthouse apartments in the same building, including one purchased in 2024 by racing team owner Tony Quinn for $8.03 million.

This latest purchase also surpasses one of Brisbane City’s highest-profile sales: a penthouse in Admiralty Quays owned by entrepreneur Thérèse Rein and her husband, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Public property records show Rein and Rudd bought the property for $8m in 2016.

2802/140 Alice St, Brisbane City. Its $9 million sale sets a record for the inner city suburb.

The home sits on two floors and overlooks the Botanical Gardens, with a view stretching out to Greater Brisbane.

The sky home was built in 2017 with a design inspired by architect Zaha Hadid, featuring a private lift and a 100 sqm outdoor balcony overlooking Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens.

Its presence in a prestige apartment complex in the middle of the city gave its vendors access to four secure carparks, along with shared tower amenities such as a wellness centre, pools and a gym.

The home at the Abian Tower sold for more than the building’s penthouse apartments, including one bought by entrepreneur Tony Quinn.

The purchase also beat the sale price of businesswoman Thérèse Rein and former PM Kevin Rudd’s home, by around $1 million.

Agents Simon and Courtney Caulfield of Place Kangaroo Point oversaw the sale of the property.

The eventual buyer was an internationally-based family who own a large business. Mr Caulfield said the family were considering making this Brisbane property their new permanent residence.

“They’ll literally gut the place,” Mr Caulfield said. “It just goes to show you that $9 million can get you a great piece of real estate and break the inner city record, but someone can still want to spend more money on it. That’s the market we’re in at the moment.”

“They love the fact that the Botanic Gardens are there,” he said. “It’s really hard to beat Abian as a building. You’ve got the 24 hour concierge, you [can] walk straight across the road to the park, you’ve got the CBD and the lifestyle behind you.”

The home’s new owners want to extensively redo the entire interior to make it their own.

Negotiations for the property began in June of 2024, with the home selling unconditionally as of January 2025.

Despite it only being 7 years old, millions of dollars are expected to be spent on new upgrades for the home, such as replacing the porcelain floors with timber and redoing the kitchen.

Ms Caulfield also sold a home in New Farm at around the same time: 101/156 Oxlade Drive, which sold in the early $8 million range.

Originally published as $9 million sale marks shocking CBD home record