Wesfarmers' Ed Bostock heads west having sold Centennial Park home for $13m

Wesfarmers’ senior executive Ed Bostock and his wife Emma look like they’re making their move to Perth official. Having swapped Sydney life at private equity giant KKR to head up business development at the Perth-based conglomerate 18 months ago, the couple have offloaded their Centennial Park home on the quiet for more than $13 million.

Rumours of the sale were confirmed when a caveat on title revealed it had been purchased by little known Melanie Macnab.

The off-market deal was pinned on Ben Collier of The Agency who declined to comment, but a source said he was set to hit the market with a $13 million guide for the property before it sold.

Settlement is expected to show a result well above that, making it the second highest sale in the suburb, topped only by last year’s $16.5 million sale of the home of tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes to art patrons Dr Gene and Brian Sherman, also sold by Collier.

While not a record, a $13 million sale result equates to $13,527 per square metre, making it the highest result on a per square metre basis.

The Bostocks’ almost 1000-square-metre property – half the size of the Shermans’ new property – was purchased in 2013 from cosmetic surgeon George Calfas and Athena Calfas, and two years later scored a Luigi Rosselli-redesign thanks to a DA from the Land and Environment Court.

Palm Beach record hopes

There’s a challenger to Palm Beach’s $22 million record, thanks to the off-market listing of the property of the late lawyer Phillip Esplin, founder of Esplins Solicitors.

Buyers with a spare $23 million to $25 million are being approached to buy the 2100-square-metre holding, Palm Haven, by David Edwards, of LJ Hooker Palm Beach.

Edwards declined to comment on the listing, but records show the Esplins bought the first block in 1987 for $900,000, added next door the following year for $1.3 million and commissioned architect Phillip Cox to design the  residence across both blocks in 1990, complete with one of the suburb’s few tennis courts.

Tennis courts are a rare addition in Palm Beach, with one of the few others making up the Kalua estate, which has held the $22 million high for Palm Beach since 2012 when it was bought by retired car dealer Laurie Sutton.

The north-facing Pittwater beachfront is a who’s who of holiday home owners, among them Cannon-Brookes in his $8.7 million weekender he bought in 2013 a few doors away, and the $12 million house bought by property baron Stephen Burcher last year.

Bennelong’s a la carte menu

When it comes to selling the apartment of property developer Keith Johnson atop the Bennelong building there’s now an a la carte approach to the offering.

There’s still the $23 million to $24 million ask for those keen to take the whole-floor shell as it is, but otherwise, high-end shoppers have a few other options to consider as well.

McGrath’s Craig Donohue said Johnson is happy to reinstate the wall that separated what was two apartments on level 12, taking the inferior for himself and offering the larger half to buyers for $19 million.

Alternatively, for the prestige buyer who has everything but time, the Trinity Point, Lake Macquarie property developer is happy to complete the architect Koichi Takada approved-design with the buyers choice of specs for a negotiated price.

Keeping it real in Double Bay

The Young Rich List set is often kicking back in impressive trophy homes by the time they debut on the Australian Financial Review’s annual list, but last year’s newcomers Greg Moshal and his wife Simone are keeping it real. Kind of.

The 36-year-old Moshal, co-founder and joint-chief executive of online lender Prospa, has bought a $4 million apartment in Double Bay, no doubt from some of the estimated $101 million fortune attributed to his name. The three-bedroom spread is one of three in the triplex and was previously owned by Ben Carrington, 28, of Melbourne’s noted restaurant Atlas Dining in South Yarra.

Carrington first bought into the luxury triplex in 2016 through Ray White Double Bay’s Warren Ginsberg, when he acquired the penthouse for $3.5 million and Ginsberg offloaded it a year later for $4.55 million. Carrington then bought the ground-floor spread, that is now Moshal’s for $3.8 million.

Moshal’s new digs are a decent step up from his first home, the two-bedder in Rose Bay he bought in 2004 for $805,000.

Records show Moshal’s Prospa co-founder Beau Bertoli has not been left homeless after moving on from his former Merrylands home, having bought a contemporary Northbridge home for $2.15 million in 2015, three years after they founded Prospa.

Also cashing in on the fintech boom has been Afterpay Touch head David Hancock, who paid $7.65 million late last year for a Espie Dods-designed residence in Paddington from Direct It telemarketing owners John and Maria Anderson.

And Afterpay Touch’s Melbourne-based chairman Anthony Eisen bought The White House at Byron Bay’s Wategos Beach in a company name for $7.6 million from Boorowa farmer Charlie Arnott, of the Arnotts Biscuit family.

Mosman’s rare listings

You wouldn’t know it is peak selling season in Mosman given how few high-end homes are on offer. So, give a big welcome to the market for the designer home of former Macquarie banker Kieran Moffat.

This is the Balmoral slopes property he bought after it spent two weeks on the market in 2016 for $8.9 million from former London financial markets trader-turned-race horse owner Carl Holt and his wife Lorraine, who had bought it for $8 million in 2010 from former Qantas chief Geoff Dixon and wife Dawn.

Designed by architect Phil Corben, it was previously owned by the late opal dealer and horse owner-breeder Bill Cudlipp, who had paid $6.3 million after its completion by residential developer Michael Stokes and interior designer Maryanne Collins.

Nic and Kingsley Yates of The Agency are asking about $12 million.

Attards’ mansion up for grabs

In Wahroonga, the Federation Arts and Crafts mansion of developer Alfred Attard and his wife Alexandra leads the upper north shore prestige market given the $7 million to $7.7 million expectations.

Built in 1905, and designed by leading architect of the time James Peddle, it has undergone a major restoration including an extension to the almost 5000-square-metre property.

It was bought by the Attards in 2013 for $2.5 million, the same year they sold their nearby former arts and crafts residence, Craignairn, for $6 million after it had also undergone a major renovation.

The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom residence with pool, tennis court, billiard room and vast park-like gardens is listed with Darren Curtis, of Christie’s International.

It’s a Spanish mission for Shaw

Businessman John Shaw looks to have good reason to be putting his Vaucluse residence up for grabs for $15.5 million given a caveat reveals he was the almost $12 million buyer of the nearby Spanish mission-style home of former restaurateurs Leo and Vicki Varvaritis.

The Magic Door Industries boss has been a Carrara Road home owner since 1981 when he bought the three-level property for $425,000 from the late architect Tom O’Mahony, husband of renowned concert pianist Mary O’Mahony.

Brad Pillinger has been enlisted to sell on behalf of Shaw, having sold him the Varvaritis’s architect F. Glynn Gilling’s home after six years on and off the market.

Ten presenter heads south

Brad McEwan hung up his mic less than a year ago as a TV presenter and sports journalist at Ten and is now set to farewell his Sydney home to return to Melbourne. McEwan bought the Victorian cottage in 2007 when he moved here to replace Ryan Phelan as Ten’s Sports Tonight presenter for $685,000 from actor-turned-film producer Alexandra Davies.

A long-time antique collector, McEwan has finished the two-bedroom cottage on the edge of Mort Bay Park with recycled and heritage finishes he’s collected in the 12 years since he bought it, such as the 19th-century French oak door and a copper sink fitted into marble bench.

“I love decorating and take such pride in where I live,” he said. “By week I’ve always been surrounded in tennis, footy and cricket news, but on my weekends I love exploring for antiques and recycled fittings.”

Now based in Melbourne’s Fitzroy and working in “thought leadership” (think story-telling in the workplace) and still as an ambassador for Beyond Blue and the Melanoma Institute, McEwan has listed his Sydney home with Danny Cobden and Jack Tinworth, of Cobden & Hayson.

Expect to pay $1.2 million at the March 23 auction.