One Barangaroo apartments come up for resale and penthouse still vacant

At least one resident in the swanky tower has sold his $20.3m unit for a loss while four apartments including the $100m penthouse are still on the market.

Two of Australia’s most famous landmarks are clearly visible from One Barangaroo

At least one resident in the swanky One Barangaroo tower on Sydney Harbour built by Crown has sold at a loss, while four apartments – including the $100m penthouse – are still on the market three years after the 75-level tower was completed.

Publicly available figures from RP Data shows Chinese entrepreneur Xu Dai purchased unit 7602 for $20.3m in August last year and sold it last month for $19.25m at a 6.2 per cent loss. The buyer was Lingli Zhu.

Barangaroo residents were reluctant to discuss the apartment’s negative growth, but RP Data information reveals other units in the 77-apartment tower have achieved good price growth.

The four bedroom and four bathroom unit 6402, which was held for two years, achieved a 6.36 per cent increase when it recently sold for $25.5m.

Apartment 6202 sold for $23.5m after less than a year of ownership, achieving 18.29 per cent growth, and unit 5601 sold for $13.4m after less than a year – achieving growth of 8.42 per cent.

One Sydney Harbour at Barangaroo during its construction. Picture: Richard Dobson

There have been reports of at least one resident refusing to pay strata levies in the tower, but on the whole most residents, such as Rothschild Australia Trevor Rowe, are happy with their purchase.

Mr Rowe, the chairman of the Crown Sydney Strata Committee, paid $13.5m for his three-bedroom unit in 2021.

He said he loved living in the tower, and in a statement called them a “delight (to be a resident in) … given the high-class facilities such as restaurants, bars, spa, gym etc and (that) residents feel safe”.

“There are only four apartments left to sell in the tower, and one has an offer on it. It is an iconic building,” said Mr Rowe, a former chancellor of Bond University.

“I love living in the tower, I love the facilities, it’s a wonderful place to live.”

The so-called tower of power attracted buyers such as the late bookmaker, Bob Blann, who was one of the first purchasers and paid $40m, and the late Sydney lord mayor Nelson Meers, who paid $17.1m.

One Barangaroo selling agent, Knight Frank partner and head of residential Erin van Tuil, said that considering the number of apartments in the building the level of resales had been low.

“This demonstrates the popularity of the building and how happy people are living there and the uniqueness of the asset,” Ms van Tuil said.

A harbourside view of One Barangaroo.

However, One Barangaroo’s six-bedroom penthouse continues to be on the market with its $100m price tag.

The building, designed by WilkinsonEyre, was completed in late 2020, about four years after construction began in 2016.

Nearby, at Lendlease’s One Sydney Harbour development at Barangaroo, a rash of resales are expected.

A level 51 northeast facing three-bedroom apartment, which originally sold for $9.5m, is on the market for an $11.5m to $12.5m asking price through Ray White Double Bay.

Eighty four per cent of Lendlease’s One Sydney Harbour apartments have been sold.

Of the remaining stock, one bedders start in the mid $1m range; two bedders with parking start at $2.99m and three bedders with parking start from $4.7m.

The view from One Barangaroo.

Belle Property director Murray Wood said that with projects of the prestige of One Sydney Harbour, agents expected to 5 to 10 per cent of initial buyers wanting to sell their units close to or just after the building’s completion.

“Given there are circa 700 apartments in the three towers, we expect around 70 onsales which will allow people who did not get in early the opportunity to get into the buildings,” Mr Wood said.

“Given the status of these three buildings I would expect the demand to be quite strong from people who want to buy the preferred apartments that may have been snapped up early.

“Completed supply in the city is probably at an all-time low.

“There is really no premium supply of any volume coming in the city in the next two to three years.”