Developers give mansion market a push

The boom in Melbourne’s mansion market has taken on a new life and could be further spurred by the latest entrant into the field: property developers.

The market has jumped on the back of a series of big ticket sales and homes further down the scale are also benefiting as buyers seek to find larger properties.

Melbourne’s unique experience of the pandemic – including several lockdowns – has made buyers more conscious of the spaces that they live in and has driven a desire by many people to trade up.

The market is also being driven by returning expats, many of whom sport exponential sized budgets and are keen to get set before the market gets away from them.

In one of the latest sales, Trenerry Property Group has swooped on the classic Poolman House in a transaction quietly brokered by Sean Cussell of Christie’s International Real Estate.

While he declined to comment on the particulars of the sale the home had been earlier offered to the market with hopes of $20m to $22m.

The Poolman house in South Yarra. Picture: realestate.com.au

The imposing property in South Yarra’s Domain Precinct is a balconied Italianate Victorian mansion that dates to 1865.

The mansion is set in stunning Paul Bangay designed garden surrounds, with a championship size north south tennis court and a swimming pool also on the 2753sqm block.

The South Yarra home has six bedrooms, including a master suite with extensive north facing terrace, a separate study, spacious dressing room and luxurious marble ensuite. It sports five luxury marble bathrooms.

It was built for Ernest Poolman, whose family held the estate for almost a century until 1956 and the stage and ceiling frescoes were updated by artist Nobby Seymour.

While it could have made an ideal family compound the property is likely to be redeveloped by Trenerry and its backers into a hotel.

The property has a championship size tennis court and a swimming pool. Picture: realestate.com.au

Trenerry Property is also redeveloping the Continental Hotel in the Victorian coastal suburb of Sorrento, which it wants to turn into a regional resort venue.

That consortium, consisting of the Victor Smorgon Group, Kanat Group and Trenerry, appears to be also behind the Toorak purchase.

Trenerry Property declined to comment but has registered a caveat on the site.

The sale of the landmark home continues a trend in which major properties are being bought and potentially repurposed partly to capitalise on market shifts in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

While large projects are hard to get off the ground boutique developments have proven popular, particularly at the top end. Developers will be hoping to reap sales like the penthouse at the Orchard Piper project at 29 Washington Street, Toorak, which sold for about $14m to the Shao family in 2018.

But families are providing stiff competition to developers for the bevy of mansions on the market.
Toorak is firing with businesswoman Janine Allis listing more than $30m in Victorian real estate, including a coastal home featured in Mad Max.

The Boost Juice founder and Retail Zoo part owner listed her family’s Toorak mansion with a $20-$22m asking price, and is also selling in Fairhaven, for about $11m.

The five-bedroom mansion in Whernside Avenue was built after they bought an existing property for $11m in 2016 and had that demolished.

The new home has a modern design by Wolf Architects with bespoke interiors by In Design and is being handled by Marshall White agent Marcus Chiminello.

It sits on a 1540sq m block and has a grand entrance hall featuring soaring ceilings and polished concrete floors, a sitting room, refined library and a home office overlooking an ornamental pond.

The living spaces spill out to a large covered al fresco dining terrace with an open fire, a picturesque heated pool and spa, synthetic-turf sports court and private gardens.

Just last month celebrity chef Shannon Bennett and former partner, actor Madeleine West, sold a Toorak mansion to Melbourne pub owner Robert Zagame for about $24m, only a week after it hit the market.

The five-bedroom Lansell Road house last traded in 2017 for $16m and was dramatically renovated and now includes a rooftop terrace with timber onsen and sun-bed. The rapid sale was handled by Marshall White’s Mr Chiminello.

This article first appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au.