The Sell: Why King Kyle sold North Queensland getaway
National breakfast radio king Kyle Sandilands and wife Tegan Kynaston appear to have found a buyer for their underused Port Douglas getaway.
NSW
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After 5279 page views on realestate.com.au, national breakfast radio king Kyle Sandilands and wife Tegan Kynaston appear to have found a buyer for their underused Port Douglas getaway.
It came after the Vaucluse-based couple cut $350,000 from its initial $2.9m asking price in August.
Just a two weeks later, it has now gone under offer after 106 days on market through Barbara Woolveridge at Sotheby’s International Tropical North Queensland.
PropTrack puts the median time on market at 100 days.
There are just 200 properties in Mowbray with sales hitting $2.8m in 2021, according to PropTrack, so the property ranks as its second priciest.
Bought for $1.3m during the late 2020 pandemic, the secluded 2000-built retreat sits at the highest point of the holding surrounded by tropical rainforest with views from the entertaining deck, which has a wet edge pool and pizza oven.
The Mowbray home, 11km from the centre of Port Douglas, has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and shedding for six cars.
It was marketed as being “truly fit for a king”, a nod to Sandilands’ nickname of King Kyle.
Sandilands told The Sell on its listing that the couple would look for a weekender closer to Sydney.
“When it was just Tegan and I, the place was absolutely perfect for us because of its private and tropical location overlooking the water,” Sandilands said.
“Our two-year-old son Otto loves the beach, which can be difficult to go to up around Port Douglas due to the crocodiles. We’re going to relocate somewhere a bit closer to Sydney where we don’t have to worry about hungry reptiles.”
Sandilands and Kynaston paid $14m for a four-bedroom Vaucluse home last year.
MAYOR CONTENT WITH $4M REDFERN TERRACE SALE
City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and her retired architect husband Peter sold their longtime Redfern terrace at its onsite weekend auction for $4m.
They had bought it for $45,000 in 1978.
There were $4m price hopes for the three-storey Federation residence, which sits on a 230sq m double block.
The active 79-year-old Ms Moore, who has been married for 55 years, said she was happy with the result.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom Kepos St terrace went to auction through Progress Real Estate agent Florance Wong.
Two of the three attendees spotted with bidding paddles lodged bids after bidding opened at $3.8m.
The listing attracted some 2600 views on realestate.com.au.
“Surely, inner-city living at its very best,” the marketing suggests, advising the property is located close to the Gunyama Aquatic Centre and Green Square Library, two legacy projects of the Mayor.
PropTrack puts Redfern’s three-bedroom median terrace price at a record $2,172,500, up 15 per cent annually. Its prior $2.01m peak came in early 2022.
Redfern’s record house price remains $5.75m for a four-bedroom freestanding residence on a 335sq m Bourke St holding in 2022.
Behind Moore’s decorative timberwork facade, both the formal dining and living rooms of the house have traditional marble fireplaces, decorative cornices and ceiling roses.
There is an original cedar and pine polished timber staircase, topped with a brass chandelier.
The property also has an attic office.
The Moores bought the property after her return from five years in London in the 1970s.
Family members reportedly occupy the terrace.
The Moores have relocated to the nearby Moore Park Gardens apartment complex where they spent $900,000 through Wong on a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in 2014.
Their downsizer apartment is in the 560-unit development on the former Reschs Brewery Site at East Redfern.
In September, Ms Moore secured a historic sixth term as Lord Mayor in the local government elections, albeit falling short of a majority.
MORE UPHEAVAL FOR AGENCY AS EX-NRL STAR SIGNS WITH A NEW TEAM
The Cohen Handler buyers agency has been rocked by another high-profile departure.
Tim Moltzen, a former West Tigers player, has quit to sign on as a buyers agent at the newly formed Aurum Advisory.
He follows Tammy Soglanich out the door in what has been the biggest upheaval since 2018 when co-founder Ben Handler quit the group.
Handler had worked with Simon Cohen after they founded the company in 2009.
Saturday Confidential reported earlier this month that Soglanich and Cohen had gone their separate ways, “with mystery surrounding the breakdown of their personal and professional relationship”.
The duo starred on the now-shuttered Amazon Prime series Luxe Listings Sydney.
Soglanich, who is married to real estate agent James Bennett, took maternity leave in April following their first child, Holland.
Leon Jacques has also quit Cohen Handler to join Aurum Advisory after having reported $52m in sales in the first quarter of 2024.
LinkedIn suggest Cohen Hander’s median employee tenure is 2.2 years.
The Double Bay agency has recently lost momentum in its local market, with 45 per cent of sales tally now in Queensland.
The company has increasingly been relying on newer team members including Nic Van Heurck, who has headed concierge service nationally since January.
His previous jobs included a stint as sales assistant for Tutti Frutti frozen yoghurt.
“I’ve had the privilege of living in Europe, which has given me a unique perspective on the luxury buyer’s market,” Van Heurk tells clients.
And there are plenty of family members at the Cross St headquarters, led by Simon’s mother, Jenny Cohen, who is the chief operating officer.
His cousin, Kirstin Miller, works as her assistant. His father, Trevor, is a buyer’s agent, along with his sister Lauri.
PENTHOUSE PULLED FROM AUCTION IN A QUIET MANAR
The Potts Point penthouse of former Altium chairman Sam Weiss and his artist wife, Judith, was withdrawn from its scheduled weekend auction.
The couple paid $13.46m in April, settling in June but never moving in.
They seem set to retain their Edgecliff home and spend more time in Queensland with family.
Sotheby’s International agent Maclay Longhurst kicked off the remarketing at a $13.7m price guidance, which actually wouldn’t cover the $870,000 stamp duty purchase costs.
He had given a $10m guidance on its initial April listing.
The couple bought the gutted 307sq m European-style apartment – in the Manar building – from one-time Bankers Trust investment banker Andrew Isles and wife Victoria, of the A. Royale & Co homewares distributor business.
It retains some of the original features of the 1881-built mansion.
Potts Point penthouses have been poor sellers this year, with audio king Peter Freedman still struggling to sell his Ikon penthouse through TRG.
But there was an off-the-plan penthouse sale in the La Strada – developer Peter Metzner’s project on Macleay St – where $20m was secured for Mark Falanga’s rumoured downsizing through CBRE’s Ben Stewart. There had been an ill-informed report it was bought by Colin Fagen, managing director of Blue Zebra Insurance.
One of the new 40 Macleay St penthouses is set for listing, after its construction that was overseen by designer Alexandra Kidd.
HISTORIC PUB STAYING OUT OF FASHION
Alemais fashion couple Chris Buchanan and Lesleigh Jermanus have lost their Land and Environment Court battle to close Paddington’s Village Inn and turn it into a fashion store.
Senior commissioner Susan Dixon ruled the change of use did not serve the public interest.
Woollahra Council lawyers HWL Ebsworth defeated the case presented by solicitors Mills Oakley, with the judgment noting the application had failed to provide satisfactory evidence that the pub was unviable.
Dating back to the 1850s, the Rose and Crown (and Durty Nelly’s) was one of the earliest hotels in the military barracks. The current Glenmore Rd hotel was built in 1884, possibly the longest continual use after three other pubs were converted into luxury houses.
The Paddington Society led the objections, which totalled 236 compared to just three in support.
Buchanan and Jermanus, who in 2022 paid $6.22m for the hotel that generates $2.35m in annual revenue, advised that if the application was not approved “then the pub use is likely to cease and the land will lay fallow, and that is not orderly and efficient use of the land”.
However, The Intersection landlord Theo Onisforou told the court that the pub use was a longstanding, vibrant addition, and “he would buy it in a heartbeat”.
ROCKETING TO NORTHERN STAR
Emma Maas, wife of retired South Sydney Rabbitoh-turned-construction titan Wes Maas, has bought the Fairy Bower, Manly designer residence of Smartline co-founder Chris Acret and his wife Justine.
At $34 million it ranks as the northern beaches suburb’s most expensive dwelling, having cost $14 million in 2018.
The 2081 leasehold holding boasts a tri-level Madeline Blanchfield-designed house.
RUSTY’S WHARF DIGS PRICE DROP
Actor Russell Crowe’s mooted Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf apartment listing reveal started last weekend, being reportedly offered with a $42m to $50m guidance.
By Monday morning it was $42m to $45m, along with another unconfirmed McGrath listing agent.
Of course estate agents must follow the Property and Stock Agents Act, with the advisory not to exceed the lowest price by more than 10 per cent.
BEALE GETS A SWEETER DEAL
The Randwick home of Wallabies legend Kurtley Beale has sold pre-auction for about $4.75 million.
The sale came midweek after the price guidance had been adjusted upwards by PPD’s Kenji Fukushima and Alexander Phillips ahead of its scheduled December 7 auction. It had an initial $4.5 million guide.
Beale paid $2.651 million for the updated freestanding Federation home.
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Originally published as The Sell: Why King Kyle sold North Queensland getaway
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