Elton John has long left the Kings Cross building that scored an $18m sale

Almost a quarter of a century after the Kings Cross landmark Sebel Townhouse closed its doors to visiting rock gods of the 1970s and 80s, such as David Bowie, Elton John and Bono, the penthouse in the Mirvac-redeveloped building has sold for about $18 million.

Such is the state of Sydney’s high-end apartment market that a neighbourhood that for decades was best known for its red-light district, all-night bars and strip joints, is now among the most expensive real estate per square metre in the country.

Tina Green has sold her penthouse in the Encore building for $18 million.Credit:

The late veteran hotelier Maurice Green and his widow Tina were among the early buyers into the redeveloped hotel, known aptly as Encore, paying $3.95 million in 2003 when it was new.

The late hotelier Maurice Green owned some of Sydney’s most popular drinking pubs.Credit:

At the time, Green had recently sold the Clock Hotel in Surry Hills and was renowned in Sydney’s pub game for his other local drinking institutions like the Royal Hotel Paddington and redevelopment of the Greenwood Hotel at North Sydney, as well as his philanthropic work for Odyssey House.

Following Green’s death earlier this year, aged 93, the penthouse was listed recently with Richardson & Wrench’s Jason Boon and sold off-market before it could hit the market, making it one of the three top apartment sales locally.

The Encore penthouse is set atop what was once a local mecca to rock n’ roll stars, the Sebel Townhouse.Credit:

Elizabeth Bay’s apartment high was set at close to $30 million late last year when yachtie and former head of UBS Japan Matt Allen bought into the Billyard Ave development, topping the $22.5 million purchase in 2022 by rich-list developers Margaret Rose and her late husband Bob Rose of Kerry Packer’s pad in Toft Monks.

The luxury penthouse market in Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay is far from universally strong. Billionaire audio king Peter Freedman listed his penthouse atop the Ikon building in September with TRG agency for $17 million, having set a Potts Point record in 2018 by buying it for $16 million. It has yet to sell.

Mosmanites trading places

It was no surprise to see the Mosman designer home of Surfection founder Chris Athas and his wife Amanda hit the market on Friday given last week’s revelation the couple have purchased down the hill by the beach for well over $20 million.

The couple’s new digs at Balmoral is expected to be a major rebuild once they settle on the purchase, given their penchant for top-notch home redesigns, as evidenced by the house they’re now selling.

Chris and Amanda Athas are selling their Burley Katon Halliday-designed Mosman home.Credit: Domain

The Athases bought their home on Hopetoun Avenue for just shy of $4 million in 2001 and soon after commissioned a Burley Katon Halliday-designed house set across four levels with all the bells and whistles. Think 1400-bottle cellar, gymnasium and terrazzo-heated flooring in the four-car garage.

There were selling plans in 2018 for $17.5 million, soon after investment banker and Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham set a then-suburb high of $25 million buying the renovator’s delight known as Hopetoun across the road.

Since then, Mosman has scored a few $30 million-plus deals, of which the top is the $33 million paid for a house high on Balmoral slopes by the billionaire pharmaceutical Struengmann family.

Brendan Warner, of Raine & Horne Mosman, has set a $28 million to $30 million guide.

Melbourne-bound

The Cremorne home of Goldman Sachs’ Joe Hunt sold for about $8.5 million.Credit: Domain

Goldman Sachs’ head of Corporate Debt Capital Markets, Joe Hunt, sold his Cremorne home ahead of this week’s scheduled auction for about $8.5 million, given talk of a move to Melbourne.

Ray White Lower North Shore’s Bernard Ryan had a bullish $8 million guide, given a total redesign of the residence since Hunt purchased it in 2021 for $4.87 million.

Mordant’s public appeal

The Tanner Architects-designed weekender of Simon and Catriona Mordant is hoped to set a Clareville record.Credit: Domain

Investment banker and arts philanthropist Simon Mordant and his wife Catriona have abandoned their bid to sell their Clareville weekender on the quiet, instead launching it on property portals this week with a record-setting guide of $15 million to $16 million.

Simon and Catriona Mordant are based in Point Piper.Credit: Alessia Bruchi

BJ Edwards, of LJ Hooker Palm Beach, was until recently quietly offering it to buyers, a few months after he sold the slow-mover along the shoreline of tech entrepreneur Simon Clausen for a high of $14.6 million to Histopath pathology co-owners Dr Stephen and Dr Elizabeth Mann.

The Mordants had commissioned a high-spec Tanner Architects residence more than 12 years ago, having purchased the property in 1999 for $1.8 million from art consultant Vivienne Sharpe.

Erskineville kiss off

In Erskineville, New Zealand Warriors chairman Ken Reinsfield is selling the landmark 1930s converted warehouse known for its big lips on the facade.

The Erskineville converted warehouse of Ken Reinsfield is a landmark thanks to its big lips.Credit: Domain

Reinsfield, who competed as a wrestler for New Zealand in the 1984 Olympics, is taking it to auction on May 25 through CobdenHayson’s Ben Southwell and The Agency’s Brad Gillespie.

Reinsfield set a suburb high when he purchased the iconic digs in 2021 for $3.6 million from production manager Grant Pudig.