Governor Margaret Beazley buys $6.8m downsizer digs for life post Government House

NSW Governor Margaret Beazley’s home is currently the 1836-built Gothic revival mansion at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, known as Government House, but when she eventually steps down as Her Majesty’s state representative she’ll have new digs to call her own.

Her Excellency has made plans to return to the northern foreshore over the Harbour Bridge to a luxury three-bedroom spread in the Blue at Lavender Bay building that was developed by Aqualand headed by 32-year-old property developer Jin Lin.

Records show the former Federal Court judge paid $6.8 million for the newly completed apartment, a cooee from her long-held Lavender Bay house she sold for $10.8 million when she was appointed governor two years ago.

Joining her in the recently completed $420 million development is author, refugee and hand surgeon Munjed Al Muderis, who set a high for the 130-apartment building buying the penthouse for $10 million.

Pyjama party

Sleepwear designer Renae James has bought her first Sydney home in what is arguably among the most impressive starts for anyone in the property market, paying $9.225 million for a house in Point Piper with no finance required.

James founded the label Papinelle, initially selling from stalls at Paddington Markets in 2003, and seeing it grown exponentially in recent years. No doubt helping to fund her first home is Quadrant Private Equity, which a month ago acquired a majority stake in the PJ company.

James’s new three-bedroom house with a swimming pool on Dunara Gardens was sold by Laing+Simmons Double Bay’s D’Leanne Lewis and Jacob Hannon on behalf of paediatrician Professor Kei Lui and his wife Ellen, parents of Airtasker co-founder Jonathan Lui.

The Luis purchased it in 2000 for $1.8 million from Yellow Brick Road co-founder Bryan Davies and his then wife, fashion designer Rebecca Davies.

Trading up

Property developer Nicholas Gazal has traded up to a $17.4 million Bellevue Hill mansion to rival that of the Vaucluse home owned by his sister, Real Housewives of Sydney’s Nicole O’Neil.

The 37-year-old director of the family’s Gazcorp bought the three-storey residence with swimming pool and tennis court from Alukea Commodities’ David Cobcroft and his wife Anna, less than a year after he sold his apartment in Double Bay’s Stamford Cosmopolitan for $6.22 million.

Home upgrade plans were also in play for Gazal’s big sister Nicole and her husband Adam O’Neil in recent months after they slipped their Vaucluse home onto the market with $16 million hopes, before it was withdrawn with no sign of a sale in the meantime.

Meanwhile, the Cobcrofts are off to Point Piper, where they bought the garden apartment in the historic Kilmory estate for $11.8 million through 1st City’s Julian Hasemer who sold it on behalf of former Chanel Korea chief Robert Stavrides and his wife Sarina.

The Stavrides had listed their home in the 1913-built mansion with 1st City Double Bay’s Julian Hasemer given their plans to move closer to family in Queensland, setting a record in the estate in the process that topped the $11.65 million high set in 2016 by China’s queen of soft rock Tian Zhen.

Zooming ahead

It is perhaps unsurprising that the property portfolio of Zoom Australia boss Michael Chetner and his wife Karen has swelled since the pandemic struck last year.

After all, Zoom has gone from being a novelty technology to a way of life, and the US video conferencing company’s stocks have soared on the back of it from $US68 a share in April 2019 to almost $US280 this week.

Settlement shows Karen Chetner has bought a Hamptons-style house near Freshwater Beach for $7.41 million after just 10 days on the market with Clarke & Humel’s Mike Dunn.

Dunn declined to comment on the purchase, but records show it is just the latest in a slew of property purchases by the couple in the past 18 months.

Early last year Chetner paid $3.28 million for the house next door in Northbridge, and followed up in June of last year buying a beachfront getaway at Macmasters Beach for $3.22 million.

Mystery buyer revealed

Supercar Advocates owner Lee Khouri has found new digs following the sale of his family’s Vaucluse mansion for $25 million in July to fixed income specialist Ben Alexander and his wife Lisa.

Khouri, who heads up his family’s Fenlan Group, looks to have bought the Double Bay home of Clayton Utz partner Jonathan Donald and Ilze Jezerska for about $6.4 million.

The four-bedroom house on a corner block was listed with Laing+Simmons’ D’Leanne Lewis before it sold, and despite no comment by Lewis the mystery buyer quickly came to light thanks to Khoury’s visits to his new digs.