Coffee King Dean Merlo spends $8 million on New Farm knockdown
Coffee king Dean Merlo has emerged as the $8 million buyer of a New Farm riverfront which sold at auction in September.
Merlo, who runs the family-founded Merlo Coffee, was landbanking the property, having been a neighbour since 2003 when he paid $1,035,000 for a red brick home on 531 sqm.
Merlo now owns two of just nine riverfronts on the Oxlade Drive dress circle. His recent purchase of a four bedroom post-war home on 835 sqm takes his total to 1,365 sqm.
He paid $10,900 per sqm for his recent buy, compared to next door which was more like $1,950 per sqm 17 years ago.
Merlo doesn’t need approval to demolish the xxx home which was swapping hands for the first time in 45 years when the late Peter Bettson, the owner of Brisbane Motor Auctions, got the block in a land swap with a friend.
Ray White New Farm agent Matt Lancashire secured the sale.
Dean’s father immigrated to Australia from Italy in 1958, bringing with his Queensland’s first espresso coffee machine to take pride of place in his Milanos restaurant.
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is the Editor in Chief at Apartments.com.au, where he leads the editorial team and oversees the country’s most comprehensive news coverage dedicated to the off the plan property market. With more than a decade of experience in residential real estate journalism, Joel brings deep insight into Australia’s evolving development landscape.
He holds a degree in Business Management with a major in Journalism from Leeds Beckett University in the UK, and has developed a particular expertise in off the plan apartment space. Joel’s editorial lens spans the full lifecycle of a project—from site acquisition and planning approvals through to new launches, construction completions, and final sell-out—delivering trusted, buyer-focused content that supports informed decision-making across the property journey
