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A wholesale business appears to be fruitful for its owners, who have paid about $9.5 million for a unit at Crown Residences.
Dominic and Susanna Barba of Select Fresh Providores moved fast, viewing a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with Opera House views and then buying it within 24 hours.
The company is one of Australia’s largest fruit and vegetable wholesalers, specialising in daily delivery to cruise ships, restaurants and hotels. It has been operating for 30 years.
A sold sticker went up on the listing on July 10, indicating a sale by private treaty, with the price withheld. The lead agent, The Agency’s co-founder Steven Chen, confirmed the abode had sold for a figure around the $9.5 million guide.
“There remains strong interest in quality Sydney Harbour residences like Crown and One Circular Quay,” Chen, who sold the unit alongside Lincoln McCarthy, said.
“The purchasers viewed and bought the apartment within 24 hours.”
Records show the Barba family own a Hunters Hill house that was bought for $2.7 million in 2012. They have purchased the inner-city pad from Millennial businessman Chen Ze Dong. He bought it off the plan for $9.45 million in 2021.
The Crown apartment features marble, geometric oak floors, and expansive glass that allows for north-east views of Sydney Harbour including the Opera House.
There is a cocktail and wine bar, and a service entrance for chefs and caterers.
Mr Barba is also a hotelier, having paid a reported $12 million in 2019 for the Harbour View Hotel in Sydney’s The Rocks.
Crown Residences is considered Sydney’s tower of power, home to a smorgasbord of corporate heavyweights, rich-listers and Millennial tech entrepreneurs.
Billionaire Alex Birkenstock, heir of German cult sandal brand Birkenstock, and his wife Vanessa, paid $51.5 million for a whole-floor apartment in cash. Lawrence Myers, chief executive officer of James Packer’s family office, Consolidated Press Holdings, and his wife Sylvia also paid $70 million for the penthouse.
Bill Gravanis, co-owner of Sydney’s Luna Park, won’t have far to travel to work, having paid about $36 million for an apartment in the complex. Steven Chen is behind these and other significant Crown sales.
Byron Bay Hinterland home for sale
Tech start-up investor Ross Hill has put his Coorabell estate on the market with a price guide of $18 million, local sources have revealed.
The Geelong-born entrepreneur who was once an employee of several California-based startups, bought the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home for $14 million in 2021 from coal tycoon David Knappick and his wife Ann, records show.
That same year, the Knappicks downsized to a $12.7 million contemporary house in nearby Coopers Shoot.
Hill’s property is a 24-hectare estate with views from Mount Warning to Cape Byron Lighthouse.
Reclaimed hardwood timbers adorn the interiors. There is a cinema, gym, sauna, lap pool and al fresco entertainment zones.
The $18 million guide would surpass Coorabell’s house price record of $14.1 million that was set in 2021 when fitness queen Lorna Jane Clarkson bought the estate where Margot Robbie was married.
Denzil Lloyd and Will Phillips of Sotheby’s International Realty Byron Bay are accepting expressions of interest for Hill’s home, but both declined to comment on any aspect of the listing when contacted.
Selling strategy pays off
Homes of this calibre usually sell in private, but agents who made the call to take a prestige Avalon Beach home to auction found the strategy paid off when it sold under the hammer for $11 million, $1 million above the guide.
Jonothan Gosselin of LJ Hooker Avalon Beach, who sold the six-bedroom, four-bathroom oceanfront residence alongside Dennis Kennelly on July 14, told this masthead that every bidder was local.
“They all understood how tightly held the street is and just how rare an opportunity this was,” Gosselin said.
“Despite the uncertainty surrounding the broader economy and ongoing commentary about the declining property market, the result demonstrates that quality homes in tightly held locations continue to attract strong competition.
“We’re delighted with the outcome, and most importantly, both the vendors and purchasers are very happy with the result.”
The Avalon Beach home was put on the market by the family of the late Richard Rowe, who founded bus operator Busways. Rowe bought the block of land in the 1960s for £4100, records show, and a new build was completed in 1973.
In June, Paul Biller of Biller Property also put a Vaucluse trophy home to auction, and it sold under the hammer for $23.22 million.
Biller, who sold the residence alongside Ben Torban and Billy Moore, told this masthead after the auction that “Sydney’s prestige market is challenging”.
“Without an end date, properties can sit on the market indefinitely, there’s no sense of urgency,” Biller said.
“This property is blue-chip real estate, located on one of Vaucluse’s best streets with gun-barrel Harbour Bridge views. We had a motivated vendor who wanted to meet the market.”
