Family of rich list waste king lists $11m Strathfield knock-down rebuild

The rich list Tartak family, of waste giant Bingo Industries, have long been the most prominent of Strathfield’s high-end home owners, having accumulated an impressive portfolio of seven houses by the time Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets completed a $2.3 billion takeover of the family company in 2021.

At the time family matriarch Mary Tartak added to the property stock, paying $40 million for an apartment in Crown’s One Barangaroo tower and Camilla Tartak set a Strathfield house price record of $10.78 million when she paid cash for an eight-bedroom mansion that was slated for a knock-down rebuild.

Camilla’s husband Daniel Tartak was riding high as chief of the family company, having been appointed when he was just 29 and overseeing its float on the ASX in 2017.

But Daniel is no longer the company boss and in 2022 he pleaded guilty to being involved in price fixing in the demolition waste industry, for which he was sentenced earlier this year to 400 hours of community service, a $100,000 fine and disqualified from running companies for five years.

And the Tartaks have become more notable as sellers, with three prestige houses off-loaded in the past 12 months for a total of more than $20 million, including Daniel’s former home for $8.8 million to BigCommerce co-founder Eddie Machaalani.

This week Camilla added another house to the market. The eight-bedroom mansion for which she set a suburb high is now on offer through McGrath’s Tarun Sethi with a preliminary guide of $10.5 million to $11 million, which at that level will prove a loss on the $10.78 million she paid for it.

Point Piper’s ‘in-betweener’

Goldman Sachs Australia’s co-head of investment banking Zac Fletcher has listed the Point Piper apartment in the historic Ardenbraught building that he bought as an “in-betweener” two years ago for $9.4 million.

At the time Fletcher had sold his Rose Bay home for $23 million, and was yet to settle on the $26.55 million digs in Point Piper, the latter of which is still before council hoping to secure approval to be knocked down and rebuilt as a triplex.

While council weigh up his Michael Suttor-designed plans, Fletcher has listed his apartment with Ray White Double Bay’s Elliott Placks, who is yet to set a guide.

The listing comes just days after diamonds merchant Suzy Israel has purchased an apartment up the road for $17 million. If you needed a comparable against which to measure Fletcher’s apartment, that would put Fletchers about $12.5 million given Israel’s sold for $50,000 a square metre.

Brooks takes Brookfield

Peter Brooks, the former rich lister who sold his soft-drink company P&N Beverages for $188 million in 2011, seems to have turned his money-making efforts to the property market. Just weeks after he sold his Darling Point flip for $20 million his name has popped up on the Balmain East prestige market.

Brooks has paid $15.6 million for the waterfront house, Brookfield, owned by Dianne Mahoney after it was sold by Highland Double Bay’s David Malouf. A different agent had listed it in 2022 for $18 million.

Brooks is based in Mosman but last year he purchased a Darling Point duplex of the late heritage architect Ian Stapleton for $11 million and, after an opulent renovation and extension, sold it recently for $20 million to barrister John Hyde Page.

Shock seller

Sydney’s highest profile accountant Anthony Bell has had a lucrative week. Within hours of Title Deeds’ revelation last week that he had purchased a $9.657 million apartment in Rose Bay – purely as an investment – a deal was struck on his Dover Heights trophy home.

This is the clifftop house Bell purchased in 2017 for $11.5 million from his mate Larry Emdur and which over the years he has been approached at times to sell.

Bell has been quite attached to his Sydney home, although he admitted this week to opening the door on occasion to prospective buyers, if only to glean what they might pay for it.

One of those buyers returned last week. What wasn’t for sale on Wednesday was sold by Friday to a little known buyer from Melbourne Guanda Hu, who moved at warp speed to make an offer that was too good to refuse.

The offer was on a sunset clause, so the story goes, and with non-disclosure terms attached, and with not one but two McGrath agents, Luke Hogan and William Manning, hastily appearing on hand to help the deal over the line.

The $20.78 million sale sets a record for Dover Heights – topping the recent $16.8 million purchase of bubble tea queen Lili Shi – and conveniently timed so that Bell’s Rose Bay apartment can double as a downsizer if he needs it.