Brisbane mansion sale’s net profits will go to Peabody’s dad

The heir to the $500 million Peabody fortune is selling his suburban mansion to pay back his father.

Terrance ‘TJ’ Peabody, son of millionaire Terry Peabody, is selling his riverside mansion at Chelmer, Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

The heir to the $500 million Peabody fortune is selling his suburban mansion to pay back his father who bailed him out when his Brisbane restaurant empire suddenly fell over two years ago.

The American-inspired mansion fronting one of the city’s most prestigious riverside streets in Chelmer is on the market with a price guide of up to $11m.

TJ Peabody opened four fine-dining establishments in Indooroopilly, Fortitude Valley and Petrie Terrace offering Italian, grill and Nantucket-style food. But low patronage and poor revenues led to his decision to end the enterprise in 2017, closing and selling the venues.

Part of the sale will help the 59-year-old repay his father, rich-lister Terry Peabody, 79, believed to be worth upwards of $500m, who paid off creditor bills following the collapse.

TJ Peabody said he made a “costly miscalculation” in bringing fine dining to Brisbane: “I’d laid out a lot of capital, not that I had to borrow at that point in time, but certainly in closing restaurants, I had to borrow some money from my father. This is the truth: they're not asking for the money back (or) chasing me like I’m a debtor. I feel like I’d be much more comfortable with myself if I repaid the kindness.”

The Peabody fortune was amassed through waste company Transpacific Industries and later stakes in New Zealand’s Craggy Range winery.

After the younger Peabody stepped down from running the family wine business in New Zealand’s north, he launched his first fine-dining restaurant, Nan­tucket Kitchen and Bar, in 2014.

Millions of dollars were sunk into the business as it expanded with three more locations across the CBD, including high rents at premium spaces, multi-million-dollar fit-outs and lavish events. But in the span of eight months in 2017, all four restaurants suddenly closed, leaving unpaid bills to creditors and staff, which were paid with the help of his father.

Mr Peabody was coy about how much he owed his father, instead saying the sale would allow him to pay his debt, buy a smaller home for wife, Kim, and their youngest daughter and enjoy a holiday. He was adamant the sale was his decision, not a forced sale.

Ray White New Farm agents Matt Lancashire and Meaghan Bakker are marketing the property through a 30-day private treaty campaign. Confidence at the top end of the market had been high, Mr Lancashire said, as the market headed into the spring selling season.

The multi-award-winning Chelmer home was built in 2008. Inspired by Nantucket and Cape Cod, the seven-bedroom house with two guesthouses is a mix of international materials. The slate roof was sourced from Wales, while the stone facade of the house and fireplace came direct the Clutha River in New Zealand.

MANSION AUSTRALIA P32-33