Empty $39m block in Toorak's prestigious St Georges Road withdrawn from the market

An empty block of land on one of Toorak’s best streets, listed with a price guide of $39 million, has been withdrawn from the market without finding a buyer.

It’s the empty site of a former mansion that was controversially demolished in 2015, prompting uproar from well-heeled local residents.

The block at 16 St Georges Road was listed publicly late last year with hopes of $39 million. It had previously been for sale off-market with two other real estate agencies.

The listing was taken down on Monday evening. Selling agent Jeremy Fox of RT Edgar said the property has not sold, while his colleague Jack Edgar declined to comment. No sale has been indicated on public records.

On an oversized block of more than 4200 square metres, the grassy patch would offer an opportunity for a buyer to build their dream mansion.

A sale at the hoped-for level would more than double the money of vendor Xiaoyan “Kylie” Bao, who paid $18.58 million in 2013 when there was a house on the site – the landmark Queen Anne-style home known as Idylwilde.

It was marketed as a “home for the generations”, but Ms Bao applied for a permit to knock it down.

Stonnington Council asked then-planning minister Matthew Guy for interim heritage controls, a request that was rejected.

At the time of its razing, distressed locals described the destruction as “absolutely tragic” and “just heartbreaking”, calling it “the most beautiful house I had ever seen” and worrying that apartments would be built in its place on the grand boulevard.

It was later revealed that an architect had drawn up plans for a grand new home that would have cost $18 million, but the plans were stymied by restrictions on cash transfers out of China.

Caulfield Krivanek Architecture managing director Robert Caulfield originally designed a renovation for the back part of Idylwilde, but local residents pushed for heritage protection, which the owners incorrectly understood as a prohibition on making any changes to the home.

“They panicked and got a demolition permit, demolished it,” Mr Caulfield previously told Domain.

Its neighbour at 18 St Georges Road sold for $38 million in 2017 with a damaged house on the site, which was later demolished.

The Toorak record is held by tech entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan, who paid $38.8 million for a spread in the exclusive suburb in 2018. Melbourne’s house price record stands at $52.5 million for Stonington mansion in Malvern, set in 2017.