Melbourne luxury penthouses looking like good value

With prices on the rise at the extreme high end of the Sydney penthouse market, Melbourne’s best apartments are looking good value.

Sapphire by The Gardens, on Melbourne’s La Trobe Street, where businessman Adrian Portelli paid $39m for a penthouse unit in 2023.

Several mega-penthouse sales in Sydney are making Melbourne look like good value – but that could change quickly.

Big ticket sales, including the $140m Residences One penthouse at Barangaroo on Sydney Harbour and cashed-up buyers splurging $64.5m on the only three sub-penthouses in Mirvac’s Harbourside Residences tower in Darling Harbour, show prices at the extreme high end in Sydney are on the rise.

The premium prices attained on these opulent apartments and on others across the city’s wealthy eastern suburbs make Melbourne’s best apartments look like good value. And this could remain the case in the short-term as prospective buyers circle the $90m penthouse in the One Barangaroo Crown Residences in Sydney.

However top-priced sales are starting to hit their straps across the Victorian capital. They include two penthouses which sold off the plan last year in Orchard Piper’s Toorak Village project for a combined $23m.

A sub-penthouse at Sapphire by the Gardens.

Now high-profile businessman Antony Catalano is hoping his two-level penthouse in the inner city beachside suburb of St Kilda will be the second most expensive apartment to change hands in Melbourne’s property history as the striking six-bedder hits the market. Within days of the launch by agent Marcus Chiminello of Marshall White, a marketing video attracted more than 35,000 hits online.

Agents are quoting $33m to $36m for the apartment in developer Tim Gurner’s Saint Moritz complex, which, if achieved, would come in below the top price for an apartment in Victoria, which was the $39m penthouse unit in SP Setia’s Sapphire by the Gardens development that was purchased by businessman Adrian Portelli in 2023.

Earlier, in 2022, a sub-penthouse was sold in what was to be Melbourne’s tallest building, STH BNK, in a $35m deal. But the future of that tower is under a cloud after its project management company fell into administration.

The Collins House penthouse at 5601/464 Collins Street, Melbourne, is for sale.

Two major city apartment opportunities are now in focus – the penthouse of Collins House and a sub-penthouse in Sapphire by the Gardens.

They are both being handled by Nancy Monitto, director for Colliers Residential Victoria.

The two-level penthouse atop the 60-level Collins House in Melbourne sports views of Port Phillip Bay and the Dandenong Ranges and is on the market with a $17m price tag.

It is being offered by MaxCap Group executive director Brae ­Sokolski, who was a part-owner of Melbourne Cup winner Verry ­Elleegant. The eight year old mare died just over a year ago due to complications while in foal. Her foal also died.

Completed in 2021, the design elements of the 480sq m penthouse include a handcrafted sculptural staircase, a mirrored corridor with 600kg German pivot doors, and a grand open-plan living, dining, and kitchen space centred around a 5.5m marble island crafted by a master stonemason.

The penthouse has state-of-the-art home automation, a climate-controlled wine cellar, and a Dale Frank painting that needed to be craned in before the top level was completed.

The two-level penthouse atop the 60-level Collins House in Melbourne sports views of Port Phillip Bay and the Dandenong Ranges.

“There is definitely an appetite for larger format apartments,” Ms Monitto said. “Buyers are discerning; they’re looking for properties that tick every single box.”

The sub-penthouse in Sapphire by the Gardens is being offered for about $7.5m by a private owner. The north-facing property sports 180-degree panoramic views of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Carlton Gardens, the Royal Exhibition Building, and the Melbourne CBD.

Sitting on Level 55 of the new Sapphire building, this residence is a creative collaboration between elite and award-winning ­architects and designers Fender Katsalidis & Cox Architecture.

It is beside the adjoining, international Shangri-La Hotel, and is expected to grow in value.

Notably, it is one of only three residences to sport more than 330sq m of internal bespoke ­luxury space.

Accessed by its own private lobby entry, the residence includes three separate living zones, private dining room, extensive open plan living, two full kitchens, and three double bedrooms with the master suite incorporating a grand ensuite.

“Buyers are predominantly looking for large sub-penthouses; it isn’t really downsizing, it’s more of a right-sizing,” Ms Monitto said.