Adrian MacKenzie offloads commercial building on Queen St, Woollahra, for $11.025m

A prestige Queen St, Woollahra streetfront retail and office property fetched $11,025,000 at weekend auction.

43 Queen Street, Woollahra fetched $11,025,000 at auction.

A prestige Queen St, Woollahra streetfront retail and office property fetched $11,025,000 at weekend auction. The landmark commercial property was sold by Adrian MacKenzie, the former CVC Capital Partners deal-maker and founder of private equity firm Five V Capital, and his bookseller wife Charlotte MacKenzie.

The price guide had been $10.5m, with two bidders competing for the keys in a result that shows the internet has not killed off prime bricks and mortar retail.

Built in 1905, the three-storey building had been bought by the Bellevue Hill couple for $3.9m in 2012 when offloaded by then fashion industry duo Lisa Ho and Philip Smouha.

The 220sq m property had previously fetched $4.5m in 2004 when sold by Ian Auchinachie, the retired antique dealer.

Apparently running as a co-working hub for private equity associates, it had a net lettable space of 275sq m. The marketing by The Agency advised it had a potential $1000 per square metre per annum rental.

Queen Street’s last commercial sale was in May when a pharmacy retail premises sold at $5.65m, with $84,000 net annual income for the 139sq m offering which had 81sq m ground floor retail space. And before that the former Woollahra Post Office premises fetched $9,625,000 for vendor Bob Guth who had paid $3,185,000 in 2001.

The boutique Queens Court retail complex, a 682sq m offering, remains for sale through CBRE’s Simon Rooney, who advised the local residents enjoyed per capita and household incomes 88 per cent and 49 per cent respectively over the metropolitan Sydney benchmark.

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Wahroonga winner

The nation’s top residential result was up on Sydney’s north shore at Wahroonga, where $13.03m was paid for the grandest of new estates. The vast six-bedroom house with a tennis court on its 2484sq m battle-axe sold for $2m above reserve, having had a $10m price guide.

Three of the eight bidders participated after the $9m opening bid, with it sold to a expatriate local family looking to upgrade after returning from Hong Kong.

27 Braeside Street, Wahroonga, sold for $13.03m.

The Felton Homes-constructed house was built 18 months ago by anaesthetist David Woods and Alexandra Woods who’d paid $4,045,000 in 2017. They were once directors of Yum Cha Xpress. With 840sq m internal space, the Braeside St home set a new suburb record, beating a $13m Water St sale in 2018 by $30,000.

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Market softening

National auction activity saw 58 per cent of the 1411 results collected so far selling. The prior week’s final clearance rate of 52 per cent was the lowest since early May 2020, with Tim Lawless at CoreLogic advising “the broad trend across auction markets is continuing to point towards softer housing market conditions”.

In Melbourne, 804 homes were taken to auction last week, up 13 per cent on the previous week. So far, 634 results have been collected, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 61 per cent.

There were 626 auctions in Sydney last week, down 7 per cent on the previous week. Of the 466 results collected so far, 55 per cent were successful. The prior week’s figure was revised down to 50.8 per cent. Withdrawal rates remain high across Sydney at 26 per cent, while in Melbourne it was 11 per cent.

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Strathmore success

Melbourne’s top notified sale was $3,115,000 for a four-bedroom Strathmore house, renovated and extended since the 1930s. The 12 Bruce St home had been listed with $2.65m to $2.85m guidance through Jellis Craig Moonee Valley agent John Morello, who then lifted the guidance to $2.7m to $2.9m during the campaign.

“It was on the market at $2.9m,” Morello told Competing Bids, advising that there were six registered bidders after about 100 groups came through the campaign. It was purchased by a local family

‘It was very much the case of a turnkey home, which is what buyers are after at the moment with the increase of build costs, and supply chain delays,” he said.

It had last sold in 2011 at $1.12m.

There were no bids when an Edwardian cottage in Toorak was offered among the priciest of weekend listings. The RT Edgar auctioneer Mark Wridgway placed a $3.5m vendor bid for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom Mandeville Crescent home which had been listed with a $3.5m to $3.65m price guide. The 507sq m property, located next door to the Toorak Bowls Club, had last traded in 2019 at $3,005,000, when sold by Suzanne Hastie, the widow of Malcolm Hastie, the 1952 water polo Olympian.

There were four sales in Balwyn, with all four results withheld from publication until their settlements. It is understood the modern two-storey home at 11 Nungerner St fetched $3.088m, having last sold at $2.3m in 2014.

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Adelaide in the clear

Across the smaller capital cities, Adelaide recorded the strongest preliminary clearance rate at close to 80 per cent, with 170 homes taken to auction, followed by Canberra at 54 per cent.

Brisbane was at 46 per cent and Perth at 43 per cent.

Brisbane was the busiest of the smaller auction markets with 192 homes taken to auction across the city. Brisbane saw a $3,001,000 sale at Bowen Hills when Manola, on hillside Jordan St, was auctioned by Sarah Hackett at Place Bulimba to secure its fourth owner. It was listed by Professor John McGrath and Dr Frances Dark who bought it in 1989 at $355,000.

Manola in Bowen Hills sold for a shade over $3m.

The now imposing, restored five-bedroom, three-bathroom house on 1265sq m attracted four bidders after the auction kicked off at $2.5m. It was announced on the market at $3m with the local bidder putting in a $1000 further offer to buy the house, which was designed by architect Leslie Corrie for his brother, Alexander Corrie, the first president of the Brisbane Stock Exchange, who had previously founded the Launceston Stock Exchange. In 1941 it was bought by aviatrix Lores Bonney, the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England, who lived next door and converted the house into flats during World War II.

The heritage architect Robert Riddel oversaw the home’s renovation, including converting the upstairs servant quarters into a children’s wing.

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Selling the farm

Weekly national auction listings dipped from 2270 last week to 1800 this week, then 1700 next week, according to PropTrack.

They include Weeroona, at Whorouly in Victoria’s north east, which has been listed by Norm Bussell, the 1971 Hawthorn premiership player.

The 54ha Angus farm, his home with wife Annie since 1973, has been listed through Elders Real Estate Northern Victoria agent Michael Everard with $2.3m to $2.5m expectations for its August 6 auction.

They are looking for a nice place in Wangaratta with a view.