Competing Bids: D-Day for billionaire Nick Molnar’s Bondi dream

Billionaire Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar and his wife Gabrielle are closer to winning council approval for their new-home plans at Sydney’s North Bondi.

In northern Sydney, 33 Burns Road at Wahroonga. The house drew 50 qualified buyers in its first week on the ­market. Its sale price has not been disclosed but it came with a price guide of $12m.

Billionaire Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar and his wife Gabrielle are getting closer to winning council approval for their new-home plans on the Ben Buckler peninsula at North Bondi.

Having bought side-by-side apartment blocks, Molnar will be knocking down an older 1969 complex and then incorporating a more modern triplex into a contemporary double-fronted Hastings Parade home.

The price of the 1080sq m site consolidation is not known, but it is understood to have totalled $45m last year – before Square offered $39bn for Molnar’s global fintech company.

Architectural plans for their innovative property play are priced at $5.5m.

Lodged last September with Waverley Council, the proposal goes to a local planning panel this week, with the officers’ recommendation for approval.

“Despite the proposed development exceeding both the height and floor space ratio development standards under Waverley LEP 2012, it is compatible with surrounding buildings in terms of its bulk, scale, size and height as well as architectural and aesthetical qualities,” it suggests.

The application by SJB Architects said it would be “capable of accommodating the growing Molnar family” as well as hosting “business colleagues from time to time”.

It proposes two guest bedrooms and a 30sq m dark room on the lower ground level. The ground level will have a main kitchen with pantry, living and dining room, which opens to a pool. On the same level there’s another kitchen, living and dining area, and a study space.

Upstairs is a master suite, with dressing room and ensuite, a home office, a further three bedrooms and a lounge.

Stairs, or a lift, lead to the rooftop terrace, where the plan for an outdoor spa and pool has been dropped from the original application. The expanded rooftop garden is proposed to have over 750 plants. There will be a spa on the ground floor which will look out towards the ocean and cliff.

SJB advised the plans would involve a significant amount of landscaping.

“Our desire is for the house to sit comfortably and quietly within the streetscape.

“It will contribute to the architectural qualities of the Ben Buckler Point, reflecting the simple geometric building forms that characterise this contained precinct. Ben Buckler Point is remarkable because the buildings work collectively to present a simple backdrop to the iconic Bondi Beach tourist photograph – it is our intent that our proposal reflects and contributes in the same way.

“We trust that you will read our proposal with the generosity and positive spirit with which it has been prepared – ultimately this proposal is for the construction of a family home.”

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Sydney steady

Sydney saw 1005 homes taken to auction over the past week, similar to both the previous week and this time last year.

The clearance rate was down slightly week-on-week, with 69.7 per cent of the 824 results collected so far by CoreLogic reporting a successful result. The previous week saw a 70.4 per cent preliminary clearance rate, revising down to 67.1 per cent at final figures, while this time last year it was 85 per cent as the boom gathered pace.

Sydney’s top under-the-hammer sale was $8.66m in Hunters Hill. Set on the Lane Cove River, the north-facing, renovated double brick, four-bedroom 1940s P&O-style house had a pre-auction guide of $7.5m to $8.25m. There were bids from four of the five registered bidders for the Bonnefin Rd property with pontoon slipway. The property last sold at $2.8m in 2013 when bought by the Khoury family.

An apartment in St Leonards was Sydney’s second highest sale with $8.1m secured. The penthouse was in the St Leonards Square project.

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Wahroonga wonder

There was a pre-auction sale on Sydney’s upper north shore for a modern home with tennis court and pool at Wahroonga. The home drew 50 qualified buyers in its first week on the ­market.

Its sale price has not been disclosed but it came with a price guide of $12m.

The Burns Rd estate was easily set to take the street record, which has stood at $7.5m since 2016.

The five-bedroom, five-bathroom property on 1979sq m was offered by Michael Upton who is in the building industry. It was designed by WMK Architecture with concrete slab construction.

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Melbourne slowdown

Melbourne’s top advised sale was a development site at Blackburn, just opposite Blackburn Lake. The site, 5 to 11 Clifton St, fetched $4.95m, with proceeds of the sale going to Zoos Victoria. The 2612sq m landholding – four blocks with four houses sold together – was marketed as an opportunity for multi-townhouse development by Calvin Chan and Jim Chen at Buxton Box Hill.

The price was withheld on a six-bedroom European-inspired family residence listing at 128 Yarrabat Ave, Balwyn, where bidding reportedly hit $6.35m.

Melbourne priciest advised home sale was a $4.65m North Melbourne terrace through Tony Downward at the Brad Teal agency. The Canning St terrace is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home with restoration and extension by Basset Lobaza that was costed at $1.57m.

The house had previously sold at $1.65m in 2010.

Melbourne was host to 1504 auctions, up from 608 over the previous Labour Day-interrupted week. Of the 1260 results collected so far, 68.9 per cent have been successful, down from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 71.9 per cent, which revised down to 68.6 per cent at final figures. Over the same week last year, 78.8 per cent of reported Melbourne auctions were successful.

The latest Melbourne result was the weakest of the past seven weeks since auctions resumed in early February.

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Adelaide active

Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide was the busiest auction market with 195 homes taken to auction, followed by Brisbane’s 189. Adelaide recorded the highest preliminary auction clearance rate at 83.6 per cent, followed by Canberra’s 76.2 per cent and Brisbane’s 61.2 per cent.

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said bidder numbers continued to remain high – above eight per auction.

“The election has not put the buyers off and they continue to come out in force today,” he said on Saturday.

Nothing to sing about

There was no sale when the Starlight Penthouse at 71 Hastings St in Noosa Heads was put under the hammer, with expectations to smash local auction price records. Located in the Netanya Noosa complex, the four-bedroom apartment spans 270sq m. The penthouse takes its name from its early ownership by songwriter Michael Chapman who installed a doorbell that played Simply the Best, the song he wrote for Tina Turner.