Revealed: James Packer’s $60m pad in the sky

James Packer’s new $60m two-storey penthouse in his Crown Sydney development will include unprecedented features.

An artist’s impression of the interior of one of the luxury two-level residences in the Crown Sydney building at Barangaroo.

James Packer has paid an ­Australian record $60 million for a two-storey penthouse in his own $2.4 billion Crown ­Sydney casino development, in a move that will mark his permanent return to his home country in three years.

But the casino mogul’s new home will not be a penthouse in the traditional sense.

Insiders have told The Australian that Mr Packer’s penthouse will be between the 40th and 50th floors of the 70-level development. At this stage, Mr Packer’s two-floor apartment will be the biggest in the building in terms of square metres, and will feature unprecedented privacy features.

It is also understood that the final price Mr Packer will pay for the apartment is likely to be significantly more than $60m.

Insiders say he wants to customise the apartment to his own specifications, which is likely to cost him millions of dollars more.

A view of the Penthouse duplex suite.

News of Mr Packer’s new ­Australian home came as his ­casino group Crown Resorts ­announced it would reap almost $700m from a string of asset sales. These included: the sale his ­interest in a 14ha ­casino site on The Strip in Las Vegas, the final chapter in his association with the Nevada city; Crown’s stake in Nevada-based Caesars Entertainment; its online betting company CrownBet; and the Hunter Valley property Ellerston back to Mr Packer and his sister, Gretel.

The billionaire’s new high-rise home will feature sweeping views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

New York designers are working on what is believed to be a sophisticated palette for the tower’s apartment interiors. Selected materials include Scandinavian bleached-birch timber, ripple-textured bronze glass, ­polished and blackened stainless steel, leather detailing, as well as white and silver-veined stone slabs from Greece.

International designer Will Meyer of Meyer Davis Studio was in Sydney last week selecting the finishes for the tower’s 82 luxury apartments.

Mr Packer’s plans to purchase an apartment in Crown Sydney first emerged in an interview in The Weekend Australian in October.

He revealed the purchase would mark a permanent return to his homeland when the project was completed at the start of 2021.

“Getting the rights to and building Crown ­Sydney will be my proudest achievement,” Mr Packer said in the interview.

“It is the most exciting thing in my business life and in terms of my relationship with Australia.”

He also revealed that his new apartment at Crown Sydney would feature bedrooms for his children from his marriage to Erica Baxter.

The $60m price tag has dwarfed the size of past apartment sales across the country. The previous record for an off-the-plan apartment was $27m for a penthouse in the Opera Residences building in Circular Quay. However, it is believed some other apartments near the Opera House have sold in private transactions for in excess of $30m — just over half of what Mr Packer is paying for his new pad.

Yesterday’s announcement made clear that Mr Packer was not getting any special treatment on the price he paid for the apartment. “The sale documentation will be on the same, or materially the same, terms as the documents to be entered into with other purchasers,” it said.

Insiders say Mr Packer’s two-level apartment will not include its own pool. The new complex will feature hotel rooms up to the 35th floor. Mr Packer’s apartment will be between five and 15 floors above this.

The announcement of Mr Packer’s purchase appears to herald the real start of the marketing campaign for the apartments in Crown Sydney, to be known as One Barangaroo Crown Residences.

Insiders have told The Australian that one buyer has agreed to terms on the purchase of a high-level apartment for a figure in the double-digit millions, but money has not yet changed hands.

The $60m purchase is believed to be Mr Packer’s first in Sydney since he set another ­record by selling his six-storey Vaucluse mansion, La Mer, in 2015 for $70m. At that point, that was the highest price paid for an Australian residence. This price was pipped by the $71m sale of the former John B. Fairfax-owned Elaine in Sydney’s Double Bay to Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar this year.

Mr Packer has held on to one part of his Sydney property portfolio throughout: the pad on Sydney’s Bondi Beach where he spent much of his bachelor years.

While he has periodically listed it for sale, he has ultimately kept the Campbell Parade property which has been used at times by friends and associates.

Mr Packer’s close friend, Today co-host Karl Stefanovic, moved into it briefly when his marriage to Cassandra Thorburn fell apart last year.

Additional reporting: Lisa Allen