Pretty penny paid for off-the-plan penthouse on Potts Point waterfront

The former head of General Pants Co and his wife have reportedly paid $15m for an off-the-plan Potts Point penthouse.

The ocean views of Oceania at Manly in NSW.

General Pants Co’s former executive chairman, Phil Staub, and wife Jackie Vidor – granddaughter of the late multibillionaire industrialist Victor Smorgon – are understood to have paid about $15m to buy an off-the-plan penthouse in the redevelopment of the Bourbon & Beefsteak site on Sydney’s Darlinghurst Rd.

More than 60 per cent of the off-the-plan apartments in the yet-to-be-built Queensgate complex have now sold.

The string of five apartment blocks proposed by property developer Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital would transform Potts Point and is attracting eastern suburbs and lower North Shore buyers keen to live closer to the busy city centre.

Marketing agent Ben Stewart and CBRE declined to discuss the purchase by Mr Staub and Ms Vidor, who are understood to be downsizing from their beachfront Vaucluse property and have listed it with eastern suburbs agent D’Leanne Lewis of Laing + Simmons Double Bay.

An artist’s impression of the Queensgate development at 18-32 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point.

But it is understood a three to four-bedroom penthouse on the $350m complex is still for sale with a price tag of $18m.

The cheapest one bedders still available in Queensgate start at $1.8m.

Construction has commenced on the prominent site, which Mr Arnaout started amalgamating about six years ago at a cost of nearly $70m – believing that on completion, the Queensgate development would continue the renaissance of Potts Point.

Mr Staub and Ms Vidor recently listed their five-level Parsley Bay, Vaucluse mansion in Sydney’s eastern suburbs which they purchased in 2006 for $6.1m.

The 1980s modernist house on a 1100sq m site has undergone a renovation by George Livissianis and it was completed in 2017.

The gardens were designed by landscape architect Daniel Baffsky of 360 Degrees Landscape Architecture who, according to his website, describes the planting palette as an “eclectic array of natives, exotic sub-tropicals, edibles and succulents”.

Laing + Simmons Double Bay principal and marketing agent D’Leanne Lewis has put an $18m guide on the 4 Parsley Rd property.

Its 500sq m-plus internal space has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a four-car garage, as well as rare direct beachfront access to Parsley Bay.

Mr Staub and Ms Vidor recently sold their major shareholding in General Pants Co – which included an interest in fashion groups such as Ginger & Smart, and SurfStitch – in a reported $60m-plus deal. They are retaining an interest in the label Ksubi.

The Oceania development at Manly, NSW.

Meanwhile, across the harbour, Mr Arnaout, a diversified property developer, pub owner and casino operator, has been busy in beachside Manly where he is poised to launch a new boutique complex of seven apartments designed by Vince Squillace, called Oceania.

The two-per-floor apartments of more than 250sq m each comprising three to four bedrooms are priced from $12m each and are positioned at North Steyne, right on the Manly beachfront. However, the rooftop penthouse with private pool is yet to be priced.

Mr Stewart and CBRE are marketing the seven apartments in the complex, which will appeal to downsizers wanting a beachfront lifestyle.

“This is a rare offering to get beachside residences,” he said. “There’s a huge appetite for beachside properties. We are already seeing great appetite from people on the North Shore and great interest from country NSW.”

Construction will commence in the second half of this year and completion will be mid-2025.

Mr Arnaout is also developing projects on Queensland’s Gold Coast and in Newcastle.

Originally published as Pretty penny paid for off-the-plan penthouse on Potts Point waterfront