With thousands of property sales under his belt, no one knows Bayside better than Graeme Wilson

Graeme Wilson, managing director of Wilson Port Phillip, has been selling real estate in Melbourne’s inner bayside for 40 years. He’s sold thousands of properties in St Kilda and has watched the suburb transform and gentrify. When he’s done with the inner-city hubbub, he can be found walking in some of the world’s most remote and challenging spots.

Where did you grow up?

I was raised in the country; my father was a stock and station agent. It was his recommendation I get into real estate. I was living in Gippsland, Sale, at the time, and I started working in St Kilda in 1975.

What was St Kilda like when you began?

St Kilda was diverse, edgy and with a lot of rooming houses. Every large house in the area had boarders living in each room. Through the late 1970s it started to change and the larger homes were being sold to young families. A lot of those families are still in those houses today; you find people stay 30 to 35 years. All these years later, I’m still living in the City of Port Phillip but now I’m in Albert Park.

How many houses would you have sold in St Kilda?

It would be thousands; the house I repeatedly sold the most was in Gurner Street. I rented it at one time and I sold it five times. I lived in The George building for 18 years. I was very passionate about that development; we were engaged to sell them off the plan. There’s a nice French restaurant in The George now. It’s right in the entrance foyer and that’s added a lovely feel to the building.

How do you feel about St Kilda changing?

In the ’70s and ’80s, St Kilda started becoming gentrified. By the ’90s, it was. Massive changes started taking place. In Fitzroy Street and the streets around it, there were a lot of boarding houses and social housing. People used to say you could be living next door to a millionaire on one side and a down-and-out on the other. St Kilda has gone through more changes recently; it’s less car-friendly now because of the new wide tram stops and the shops have suffered. But it has turned the corner again, I think, and that’s all up to The Gatwick changing.

What do you think about the new version of The Espy?

It’s fabulous – I love it. And because it’s drawing people in, you get the rub-off effect. Other things are happening – they’ve commenced work on the Pride Centre, a $10 million cutting-edge design by local architect Grant Amon. The Saint Moritz development sets a new trend in terms of its high quality. It has been an amazing success for Tim Gurner. He was an understudy of mine about 15
years ago.

When you’re not visiting St Kilda, what do you do?

I like bushwalking; my wife and I walk a lot. We have been to a lot of places and done some of the world’s greatest walks. We’ve been to Crete and done the Samaria Gorge walk, Routeburn Track and Milford Sound in New Zealand, and Three Capes in Tasmania. We’ve also done the Rim to Rim hike through the Grand Canyon.

And you also occasionally cycle?

I’m very much a fair-weather cyclist but I usually go on Sundays. Recently I did a charity bike ride for a school. It’s for the Yatra Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Australia that provides access to education for disadvantaged children in India.