Who buys two Sydney $40m apartments off the plan?
An artist’s impression of an interior of one of the apartments at 81 Yarranabbe Rd, which has just sold for $40m.
Two luxury apartments in Sydney’s east have just sold off-the plan for $40m apiece — so have a guess who has that sort of money ….
The temptation may be to think one went to a wealthy expat, someone living overseas wanting a harbourfront bolthole.
And maybe the other went to a foreign investor?
But no.
“Both buyers are local, mature empty nesters used to living on the harbourfront, one couple, one single,” says one of the 1st City agents, Brad Caldwell-Eyles, who sold both apartments in the exclusive 81 Yarranabbe development on the harbourfront in Darling Point alongside his colleague Julian Hasemer.
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The eight apartments are right on the waterfront at Darling Point.
Lavish marble kitchens.
The sale of the 300sqm apartments equate to about $125k a sqm, close to the record-breaking $126k a sqm paid when former Multiplex boss Andrew Roberts paid $24m for a Bondi Beach penthouse in 2023.
The Yarranabee Rd project, consisting of eight apartments including the two penthouses, is underway but won’t be complete for three years.
It’s the type of project wealthy Sydney downsizers crave, designed by the acclaimed architect Alec Tzannes, with interiors by London-based firm Banda which was founded by Edo Mapelli Mozzi who is married to Princess Beatrice.
And it’s being developed by John Roth of Helmsworth Investments. His late brother, Stanley Roth, had also been working on the project before his death in December.
So what do you get for your $40m?
Incredible views.
A harbourside pool.
Well, apart from the massive amount of space over one level, way bigger than the 240sqm average Sydney house, there are panoramic views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
It’s right on the waterfront and there’s a private jetty.
And of course there’ll be only the best finishes with silver terrazzo floors, marble kitchens and sculptural designer light fittings.
These weren’t even the penthouses — they were half-floor lots: a garden residence and one on level two.
The whole-floor sub-penthouse is still available for $82.5m with the one above that, the whole-floor penthouse, a touch less at $77.5m.
All eight apartment owners will benefit from wellness facilities such as a spa, sauna and steam room and a 25m harbourside pool.
While the two $40m sales were to wealthy downsizers, other insiders say expat buyers continue to snap up a proportion of Sydney’s luxury apartments sold off-the-plan.
Ben Stewart, of project marketers SRM, has just sold a 330sqm four-bedroom penthouse in the luxury Avra development in Bondi Beach for $25.2m to an expat based in the south of France.
The Avra penthouse at Bondi Beach has just sold for $25.2m, to an expat based in the south of France.
It offers 330sqm of living space and a view of the beach from the balcony.
“He just wanted a Sydney pad,” says Stewart.
“It will have views from the balcony overlooking the beach.”
Stewart said 80 per cent of SRM’s buyers in the east were locals downsizing from large trophy homes nearby.
“But it depends where it is — apartments in Potts Point, for example, have a wide audience, coming from Cronulla, the North Shore and various parts of the eastern suburbs,” he said.
Interestingly, other agents said that interest from foreign investors in Sydney’s luxury off-the-plan projects had dropped off.
“They’re discouraged by stamp duty and all of the other costs,” the agent, who didn’t want his name used, said.
“On a $40m unit, for example, they’d be up for $6m in stamp duty,” he added.
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