Sydney's Gen Z buying waterfront homes in Woolwich for more than $10 million

Early childcare tycoons Charles and Colette Assaf have outdone themselves in the parenting stakes this week, snapping up a waterfront Woolwich residence for more than $10 million for their kids, Daniella, 22, and Joseph, 19.

The exact purchase price remains under wraps by McGrath’s Tracey Dixon, but title records lodged on behalf of the Assaf siblings reveal they bought the home of Olympic sailor David Forbes and his wife June.

Forbes, who with fellow Order of Australia recipient John Anderson won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics, paid $500,000 for the 1000-square-metre property in 1985, long before it was being offered on the quiet for between $10 million and $11 million.

Charles and Colette have been busy upgrading their home real estate since last August when they sold a majority stake in their independent early childcare company Montessori Academy to a China-backed investor for $120 million. The former Strathfield locals paid $11 million about six months ago for a BKH Architects-designed mansion just along the waterfront from their kids.

Still with Sydney’s well-housed youth, “Eric” Zhongjianxiong Li has emerged as the $8.1 million buyer of Killara’s Wirringulla estate.

Maybe the 1920s residence with tennis court and pool on 2500 square metres was a congratulatory gift from his China-based parents after the Knox Grammar student made last year’s HSC Distinguished Achievers list.

It was sold by Sotheby’s Ben Cohen on behalf of former director of banking at CSC Australia Simon Millett and his wife Fran, who have since moved to $4.6 million digs at Manly.

Kirby finds new $2.7m digs in Woollahra

Former High Court judge Michael Kirby and husband Johan van Vloten have taken a shine to Woollahra, buying a $2.7 million apartment.

The two-bedder was previously owned by convicted insider trader Nathan Stromer, who in February upgraded to a $3.5 million pad in the Allen Jack + Cottier-designed Palloma building in Rose Bay developed by his parents Tom and Judith Stromer.

Stromer and his mate Daniel Joffe were convicted of up to $200,000 worth of insider trades between late 2006 and 2007, earning them both a suspended sentence and good behaviour bond in 2015.

Meanwhile, Kirby and van Vloten, who married a year ago on their 50-year anniversary, were previously Rose Bay locals before they sold their modernist home in 2014 for $10.7 million to Faina Stolyar, the mother of bankrupt former mining executive Ian Stolyar.

The Neville Gruzman-designed residence was resold earlier this month for $16.6 million to London-based foreign exchange dealer Tony Collick.

Huljich to hit the road from Elizabeth Bay

Jason Huljich, co-chief of ASX-listed property fund Centuria Capital and a member of one of New Zealand’s richest families, is planning to trade up from his Elizabeth Bay waterfront penthouse listing it for about $4.5 million.

The three-bedroom spread with marina facilities and harbourfront pool last traded in 2006 for $2.23 million, complete with a parking space that went under-utilised a year later when Huljich’s Maserati became the talk of dress-circle Billyard Avenue.

A June 13 auction has been set by McGrath’s William Manning. ​

Haggarty looks to offload his Manly pad – again

Mining magnate Tony Haggarty scored an unsolicited offer of $11 million for his Manly apartment last summer and despite the deal never taking place because the buyer had a change of heart, it has prompted the former Whitehaven Coal director to put it up for grabs anyway.

After all, the designer pad with private swimming pool has been used primarily as a holiday let until recently, and Haggarty remains based at his Cromer acreage, bought from former radio star Doug Mulray for $8.275 million in 2010.

Meanwhile on the harbourside of Manly, the 1912 terrace of former Jim Beam boss Phil Baldock and his wife Tracy has sold for close to its $8.5 million guide.

No word on the result from Darren Curtis, of Christie’s International, but records show the three-level terrace, dubbed The Strand, last traded in 2011 for $2.03 million.