Former PM Bob Hawke sells up Sydney home
Bob Hawke and his wife, Blanche D’Alpuget, have quietly sold their imposing five-level waterfront mansion in Sydney.
Bob Hawke and his novelist wife, Blanche D’Alpuget, have quietly sold their imposing five-level mansion in the leafy Sydney waterfront suburb of Northbridge for an estimated $15 million in an off-market deal.
It is understood the couple sold the Minimbah Road home — replete with rooftop putting green — to a private buyer and are downsizing to a luxury newly built apartment tower overlooking Hyde Park in the heart of the Sydney CBD.
Public records show Mr Hawke and his then wife, the late Hazel, paid $1.23 million for the 952sq m site in 1991.
The large site now sports a five-level waterfront mansion complete with five-hole rooftop putting green offering up to five bedrooms at scenic Sailors Bay.
The former prime minister quietly put the mansion on the market earlier this year.
The $15m price tag comes in at roughly three times the price of the average Northbridge home which, as of March 1, was $3.165m.
The buyer is a local owner-occupier.
The selling agent for the Hawke house, Chris Downie of Richardson & Wrench Northbridge, declined to speak about the sale. His co-agent, Colliers International managing director Peter Chittenden, could not be reached for comment.
The sale comes as new research shows Sydney house and apartment prices fell the fastest of any Australian capital city last year — save for Melbourne.
Title deeds show the Minimbah Road house is held by Robert Hawke and Blanche D’Alpuget as joint tenants.
Senior real estate sources confirmed last night that the Hawkes had bought into the Hong Kong-listed Aoyuan Property Group’s 130 Elizabeth Street tower, which offers north-facing apartments overlooking Hyde Park.
Apartments in One30 Hyde Park’s upper level sport 280-degree views of Sydney Harbour and the airport. One-bedroom apartments in the 38-level One30 Hyde Park have sold from $1.29m, while two-bedroom apartments of 101sq m to 107sq m have sold from $2.2m.
A penthouse in One30 Hyde Park was quickly snapped up in 2015 for $9.72m. The developers could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the couple said both Mr Hawke and Ms D’Alpuget had no comment.
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