Manly penthouse sells off the plan for more than $22m

Property developer and investor Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital Group has sold a Manly penthouse off the plan for more than $22m, eclipsing the previous record for the area.

An artist’s impression of the seven-apartment Oceania development complete with full-floor penthouse.

Property developer and investor Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital Group has capitalised on the popularity of Sydney’s seaside Manly with the record $22m plus sale of the penthouse in the luxury Oceania development.

Oceania is a collection of seven large apartments providing absolute beach frontage.

The four bedroom full-floor penthouse covering 500sq m which has a rooftop pool and four car spaces beneath, has just sold off the plan to a local businessman. The sale of the penthouse, through Stewart Residential/CBRE Ben Stewart, blows away the existing apartment record for the suburb by at least $4m.

Four of the seven apartments, which range in size from 217sq m to 270sq m, have now sold. The cheapest is still on the market starting from $13.5m.

The apartments have an average size of 250sq m, and there are two per floor.

Each will include two car spaces.

Oceania penthouse in Manly.

Mr Arnaout, who is worth $2.5bn according to The Australian’s The List, lives near Manly, and had planned to ­retain the Oceania penthouse for himself.

He owns the Steyne Hotel, which he purchased for $65m from publican Arthur Laundy, adman John Singleton and entrepreneur Robert Whyte, as well as the Ivanhoe Hotel Manly.

The former panel beater-made-good owns retail shops in the seaside destination, as well as a residential holdings which he has rented out.

An artist’s impression of the private rooftop pool attached to the penthouse.

“I have my own house there in Manly and I describe the place as heaven on earth; it is where the harbour meets the sea,” he has previously told The Australian.

“It’s a piece of paradise and I am definitely looking to keep a place in Oceania for myself. It’s where I go to enjoy the natural beauty.”

The developer – who has housing developments in Newcastle north of Sydney, and in Potts Point closer to the Sydney CBD, as well as Casino Canberra and Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice Springs – said he would build more development projects in Manly if the opportunity arose.

The view from a bedroom in the Oceania penthouse.

“The problem is Manly is so tightly held. Given the opportunity to replicate this Oceania project in Manly I would jump at the chance,” Mr Arnaout said.

The Oceania residences will have separate study areas, multipurpose TV rooms, wine cellar and ensuites for each bedroom. Kitchens feature European appliances, butler’s pantries and curved natural stone island benches.

The development’s exterior and interiors were created by Vince Squillace.

Mr Stewart said the four buyers so far were local downsizers while one was from nearby Mosman. He said buyers were attracted to the apartments because they were freehold. He declined to comment on the identity of the penthouse buyer.

Construction is scheduled to start in February and completion is projected to be the end of 2026.

Meanwhile billionaire businessman Robin Khuda, who has sold his tech company AirTrunk to Blackstone for $24bn, has just completed eight luxury apartments in Manly. Seven apartments have sold through CBRE/Stewart Residential’s Ben Stewart. One of the apartments is believed to have fetched about $8m.

Originally published as Manly penthouse sells off the plan for more than $22m