Sold in 12 minutes: Fund manager's $17.5m penthouse pay day
A top fund manager who took just 12 minutes to buy his mega penthouse with a wellness centre and eight-car garage has sold it four years later for $17.5m.
In one of the biggest sales for Brisbane this year, the property at 1821/22 Refinery Parade in New Farm sold after negotiations overnight following four written offers.
Brisbane expat Ben Cleary, a director of multi-billion dollar fund manager, Tribeca Investment Partners, paid $10m for the property in 2020 — a record price at the time.
Place Estate Agents managing director Sarah Hackett negotiated the sale of the property, but declined to reveal the sale price.
Sources close to the deal have revealed it was bought by a local family with an international business for $17.5m.
Mrs Hackett said the vendors took 12 minutes to inspect the property back in 2020 when they were relocating to Brisbane from Singapore and then amalgamated two penthouses into one and undertook a full renovation.
'The most extraordinary thing about this apartment is the view,' Mrs Hackett said.
'360 degrees...I just don't think you can get a better position. The views can't be built out.'
She said the four written offers were all from local families, some who owned property across Australia.
'It's just proof that demand for apartment living is so strong,' Mrs Hackett said.
'We've got so many people wanting to downsize and forgo the maintenance of a big home and go to one level of living. They want something of scale, but without the upkeep.'
She said many people in New Farm, Hamilton, and surrounding suburbs, were looking to downsize to house-sized apartments.
'One of the perks of this penthouse was the body corporate provided a security guard with a dog every night.'.
Mr Cleary and his wife, Jane, were revealed as the buyers of a heritage-listed mansion in Sutherland Ave, Ascot, for $23m, which set a new home price record for Brisbane last year.
That sale was negotiated by Damon Warat of Ray White Ascot and Jordan Navybox of Cohen Handler Queensland.
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