1. Point Piper’s House of Many Sales Lists Again for $16m+

    It’s not every day that a piece of Wolseley Road comes up for sale…or is it? 42 Wolseley Road has traded hands no less than six times in the past 14 years. It’s most recent sale in 2010 for $11.75m came after it shopped offers in the $15m+ range for a solid month or two, if we recall. What makes the listing different now in 2012? Well, the 1970s three-storey structure now comes with $5.043m plans for home demolition and a 787sqm home designed by Tzannes Architects. It’s a trend that seems to be gaining traction in Sydney’s prestige market: undercapitalized homes being offered for sale with approved plans for a remodel or rebuild. However, another sad trend that seems to go hand-in-hand is that there is no built in discount taking consideration that you’re not buying the finished product, just buying a demolition site. Granted, half the headache of a new construction in Point Piper is getting it through the Woollahra Council; but the question persists: is 42 Wolseley Road a $21m+ home post-construction? A question I’m sure potential owners ought to be asking. According to listing agents Julian Hasemer, David Tyrrell, and Brad Caldwell-Eyles of 1st City the finished product will feature 6-bedrooms, 8-bathrooms, and a 4-car garage spanning 4 levels plus a stone-clad basement, waterfront pool, and harbourfront access. Suspiciously, Strata Development is advertising on their website that they are acting as “development managers for… two ultra-luxury homes” on the very same site. So is it one home or two? 

    The listing: 42 Wolseley Road, Point Piper

  2. Development Breakdown in Darling Point

    Back in March 2006, two neigbhouring inter-war homes-turned-flats on Darling Point’s western slope at 3 and 5 Loftus Road sold to developers Strada Group for a combined $8.5m ($5.1m for #3; $3.4m for #5). Within months of closing, development applications were submitted to Woollahra Council for “proposed demolition of the existing two dwelling houses and construction of a residential flat building containing four dwellings” with a construction cost of $6.35m.  A full two years later (yes, 24 months), the MPRDG-designed plans were finally approved by the Woollahra Council and the arduous construction process began. The triangular-shaped double lot was a challenge. Significant retaining walls were utilised to support the bulky four-unit apartment block to go up; furthermore, the master planning was a challenge (that seems to have been executed well) due to a drastic change in elevation at the street level (Loftus Road drops about 10 metres over the course of the lot lines). 

    For all that fun, it seems that Strada is ready to earn its dough back. The first of the four full-floor apartments has hit the open market and the price is $8m+ for Unit 2. Unit 2, mind you, lacks the garden and pool of the ground floor unit and the cachet of the top floor penthouse unit, both of which will likely garner a higher price. Overall, Strada is hoping to make a clean profit. If all four apartments sell for, say, $8m, the $32m proceeds will service the overall cost of $14.8m quite well (in fact, total costs are likely a fair bit more considering the high-end fit out, car lift work, and liberal estimates for development approval). Then again, the Radical Terrace has a tough time seeing this boutique development of four homes garnering a higher price per square metre than the waterfront development ‘Siena’ on the famed Wolseley Road in Point Piper (apartments in that block sold in the high-$7mils). Even Darling Point comps indicate that 3 Loftus Road is being bullish; on the more desirable Yarranabbe Road, it’s uncommon to find full-floor apartments in this high price range. Nonetheless, LJ Hooker super agent Bill Malouf and 1st City - Hasemer + Caldwell.Eyles agents Julian Hasemer and Matt Ratcliffe are trying their best.

    (Google Street View remembers the old days at 3 Loftus Road)

    The listing: 2/3 Loftus Road, Darling Point

  3. Weirdly Awesome Floor Plan in Weirdly Awful Building

    Mirvac has never quite been at the pinnacle of high design and architecture in its many years as a developer. Yet deep inside “Torrington”, one of their several Darling Point monstrosities that went up in the post-war years, a gem of a floor plan exists. Yeah, the interiors suck and the exterior of the 10-storey apartment block ain’t getting any prettier; but did you see this floor plan (and the view)? It’s got flow: a separate wing for the secondary bedrooms; a central foyer that separates room function; plentiful balcony space; well placed windows…

    The full floor apartment will set you back $3m+ and is listed through 1st City - Hasemer + Caldwell.Eyles. And a Torrington apartment is apparently a rare find: the Radical Terrace could only find one record of a sale in the block: $2.35m way back in 2000.

    The listing: 4/95 Darling Point Road, Darling Point

    BONUS: I’m including a stellar floor plan of Cliff May’s Mandalay house in Brentwood, California in the slideshow. Note the similarities in the floor plan designs (purely font, that is).