From the Minogue family to Katy Perry — see the 2021 property deals linked to famous faces
630 Buckland Valley Road, Buckland, hosted Katy Perry as she prepared for her 2020 bushfire relief concert in Bright.
Some of Victoria’s biggest names have made bank buying and selling everything from derelict industrial sites to, well, banks, in 2021.
The Minogue sisters, health Minister Martin Foley and former Carlton president Mark LoGiudice have all been connected with major commercial property sales.
One Melbourne identity even notched more than $240m from selling two non-residential properties across the course of the year.
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Little did Minogue and Perry know that when this photo was taken in 2014, that they’d be headlining commercial property deals in Melbourne seven years later.
See some of the famous faces that made out famously.
MINOGUE FAMILY’S $20M HAWTHORN SALE
The Minogue family sold 108 and 110 Church St, Hawthorn for close to $20m.
Ron Minogue, father to Kylie and Dannii, spent $12.5m buying a pair of commercial properties at 108-110 Church St, Hawthorn, in 2007.
After using it as a base of operations for his business investing for the family, he sold it in a deal understood to have been worth close to $20m in November.
The three-level building also had two levels of basement carparking and won over Spendless Shoes founder John Charlton.
CBRE’s Scott Orchard handled the sale.
BRUNO GROLLO’S $240M+ HAUL
A $17.5m windfall for 10-18 Chifley Drive, Preston was just a tiny fraction of Bruno Grollo’s property market dealings in 2021.
A few decades ago the Grollo family were building large chunks of Melbourne.
This year, Bruno Grollo AO was selling them. While he and his family are still understood to retain vast amounts of commercial properties around the state, he parted way with a few for big sums of money this year.
The biggest deal was the $223.5m sale of 1 McNab Ave, Footscray. The 14-storey building is tenanted by government offices including the State Trustees and sold to Centuria Capital in a deal orchestrated by Knight Frank.
Mr Grollo also sold off a derelict Preston investment he’d owned for more than 50 years, snaring $17.5m despite expectations of just $14m for the 1.91ha Chifley Drive property.
CBRE and conjunctional agency Killen Thomas handled the sale.
TONY GANDEL BUYS ARMADALE ANTIQUE STORE
1147-1151 High St, Armadale was snapped up by the son of Chadstone billionaire John Gandel.
A former antique store at 1147-1151 High St, Armadale, sold for $6.15m to Tony and Helen Gandel.
Tony is the son of billionaire businessman and owner of Chadstone Shopping Centre, John Gandel.
Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi and Chris James handled the sale via expressions of interest.
Mr Kombi said it had sold well above reserve with 13 other groups interested.
The property is currently home to long-term tenant Armadale Antique Centre.
JREISATTI FAMILY’S BIG WAREHOUSE WIN
A canny buy seven years ago turned 262 Lorrimer St, Port Melbourne, into a $50m boon for the high-profile Jreisatti family.
Melbourne’s Jreisatti family are known as developers, socialites and the backers of Levantine Hill winery.
This year they also became known as the family that turned a $31m investment into an $81.6m windfall in just seven years.
Headed by Elias Jreisatti, the founder of Bensons Property Group, the family bought 262 Lorimer St in 2014 and sold it this year for $50m more in a deal a spokesman for the family said was “too good to refuse”.
Dawkins Occhiutto Commercial Real Estate set up the sale that broke Port Melbourne’s price record. The warehouse property is across the road from the Yarra River.
MARK LOGIUDICE MAKES BANK
Ex-Blues president Mark LoGiudice bought a fire-damaged bank at 391 High St, Preston.
The man who put the Carlton Football Club back in the black hung up his boots as Blues president this year. And not long after that he celebrated by buying a bank.
Mark LoGiudice’s investment firm, Crawfords Group, snapped up the 391 High St property, currently leased to Westpac bank — though they have vacated and damage from a small fire was to be repaired at the property before settlement.
Gray Johnson director Matt Hoath handled the sale he described as “our second draft pick” after contacting a series of building owners along the prominent shopping strip near the Preston Market.
MARTIN FOLEY’S MORNINGTON MOTSER
Martin Foley had a connection to 5 Main St, Mornington, which sold for $4.855m.
The role of Victorian Health Minister was a polarising one in 2021.
Martin Foley had his share of praise and criticism as the state, and particularly Melbourne, went in and out of lockdown throughout the year.
But like him or not, the sale of a 5 Main St, Mornington, property he was connected to via an inheritance from his late father’s estate would have been tough in an already challenging year.
Foley had disclosed his partial interest in the company that owned the property before it sold for $4.855m, and had no direct involvement in transaction decisions relating to it after relinquishing a controlling position in it after entering politics.
Even so, eyebrows were raised by the figure which shot more than $1m above the $3.5m-$3.7m asking price almost two weeks ahead of the office building’s auction, and he was questioned about it during one of the then daily Covid-19 press conferences.
The sale was handled by Nichols Crowder Mornington branch manager Jamie Stuart who said the deal had been signed the day one of the state’s snap lockdowns started.
BE GREENS LEADER ADAM BANDT’S LANDLORD
The 142 Johnston St, Fitzroy, home of Greens leader Adam Bandt is for sale.
Despite hitting the market in October, the Fitzroy office of Australian Greens Party leader Adam Bandt is still waiting for a buyer.
Mr Bandt is the federal member for Melbourne and the parliamentary leader of the Greens.
The 142 Johnson St property his office is based in is expected to make more than $3m when it does change hands.
CBRE’s Nathan Mufale is handling the listing, which includes 420sq m strata suite that is leased for the next five years to the Commonwealth of Australia at $165,000 a year.
MAZEN TABET BUYS VILLAGE BELLE
Melbourne Football Club captain Max Gawn visits the Village Belle with the 2021 AFL premiership cup. Picture: Andrew Tauber.
After a more than $15m renovation St Kilda’s popular Village Belle Hotel had been expected to attract the eye of many investors.
Among those to make an offer was pub tycoon Mazen Tabet who wound up claiming the title.
Tabet also owns the Portsea Hotel and the Royce Hotel in St Kilda among others.
The deal was sealed in mid-December.
JLL’s Will Connolly handled the sale and said it had proven “one of the most hotly contested offerings for 2021”.
KATY PERRY’S BUSHFIRE CONCERT HOME SETS RECORD
The guesthouse at 630 Buckland Valley Road, Buckland, was sold for a record about a year after Katy Perry stayed at it.
A long, long time ago — a few weeks before Australia’s first Covid-19 lockdown in March, 2020, Katy Perry performed a one-off concert in Bright to support bushfire relief after horrific blazes across Victoria and NSW that summer.
While she was there, the US pop singer and her entourage rented out the accommodation at Villa Gusto in Buckland.
The 630 Buckland Rd property hit the market late in 2020 and sold in March this year for between $3m and $3.5m, almost exactly a year after the singing sensation’s visit.
Castran Real Estate’s John Castran handled the sale for the Tuscan-inspired property and said it had set a record for the region.
Owners Ben and Kirsten Edwards said they had really enjoyed hosting the pop star at their nine-bedroom villa.
Katy Perry with her hosts during the 2020 visit.
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