Final 1 Hotel & Homes Melbourne penthouse to hit market after $20m-plus sale

The last remaining penthouse at Riverlee's 1 Hotel & Homes Melbourne is set to hit the market, following the more than $20 million sale of its neighbouring penthouse earlier this year.

Penthouse 1801 will be the final opportunity to secure one of the two penthouses crowning the completed 1 Hotel & Homes Melbourne, the residential component of Riverlee's $600 million Seafarers precinct at North Wharf.

Its release comes seven months after Penthouse 1802 sold for more than $20 million in February, one of Melbourne's biggest apartment deals of 2026 and a sale that has given Riverlee confidence there is still significant demand at the very top end of the market.

The timing also coincides with Melbourne emerging as Australia's leading market for branded residences.

Knight Frank recently identified Melbourne as the country's branded residence capital, with 1 Hotel & Homes among a growing collection of developments combining private residences with the services and amenity traditionally associated with five-star hotels.

The sector itself is growing rapidly. Globally, the number of branded residence developments has increased from 169 in 2011 to 611 today, with more than 1,000 expected by 2030.

Forbes Global Properties Head of Luxury Projects Nick Peters said the buyer emerging for the final penthouse was increasingly likely to be someone splitting their time between several homes and cities.

"The ultra-high-net-worth buyer today is increasingly global, increasingly mobile and spending less time in any one location," Peters said.

"Many buyers at this level now spend fewer than 90 days a year in any single residence, which is fundamentally changing what they value in a home."

That shift is increasingly influencing the type of apartment being delivered at the top end of Melbourne's market.

Rather than simply chasing more internal space, Peters said buyers were placing greater value on residences that could be left for weeks or months at a time without the maintenance requirements of a traditional prestige home.

"We're seeing strong demand for homes that offer the ability to lock up and leave for extended periods, while still having access to five-star hospitality, wellness offerings and personalised service when they're in residence."

It is a model Riverlee was betting on well before branded residences became a significant part of Australia's luxury apartment market.

The developer acquired the North Wharf site in 2015 and subsequently partnered with sustainable luxury hotel brand 1 Hotels to anchor its transformation of the historic waterfront precinct.

Riverlee Director Kristine Lee Pratt said hotel-branded residences were still relatively uncommon globally when the site was acquired and virtually non-existent in Australia.

"We wanted to create a genuinely global hospitality and residential experience on Melbourne's waterfront, something that could stand alongside the best offerings in cities like New York, London and Singapore, but still feel distinctly of this place," Lee Pratt said.

That vision ultimately became 1 Hotel Melbourne and the adjoining collection of 1 Hotel & Homes residences, giving owners access to the infrastructure and services of the hotel rather than simply sharing its branding.

More than 200 hotel staff service the precinct, with residents able to access daily housekeeping, private chefs, in-residence spa treatments, 24-hour concierge and valet parking.

For the type of buyer Riverlee and Forbes expect to target with Penthouse 1801, Lee Pratt said those services were increasingly becoming as important as the physical apartment itself.

"At this end of the luxury market it's about removing friction, having your pantry stocked before you arrive, dinner organised when you're entertaining, your car waiting downstairs, or being able to leave the country knowing your home will be looked after while you're away," she said.

Wellness is also becoming a much bigger part of the equation.

Knight Frank research found wellness-focused residential developments have almost tripled since 2017, while 73 per cent of affluent buyers now identify health and wellbeing as an important consideration when purchasing their next property.

The completion of the wider hotel has given buyers another opportunity to experience the hospitality offering before committing to a residence.

1 Hotel Melbourne was recently named Melbourne's highest-ranked hotel in the Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2026, ahead of The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne. It has also received a Michelin Key and was included in Travel + Leisure's It List 2026.

Peters said the distinction between a residence simply associated with a luxury brand and one operated alongside an established hotel would become increasingly important as more branded projects entered the Australian market.

"As branded residences become increasingly popular globally, the operator behind the brand will matter more than ever," Peters said.

"There is a significant difference between a residence carrying the badge of a luxury brand and one connected to a globally recognised hotel operator delivering that experience every day."

Penthouse 1801 now represents the final piece of the residential offering Riverlee started planning more than a decade ago.

It is also the final penthouse within a project occupying a particularly difficult-to-replicate position on Melbourne's Yarra River waterfront, where the development incorporates the restored Goods Shed No. 5 and the new hotel and residential buildings.

For Lee Pratt, bringing the last penthouse to market carries considerably more significance than another prestige listing.

"This is the last penthouse, on the last waterfront site of its kind in Melbourne," she said.

"The site, the heritage, the hotel and the home have all come together in a way that simply can't be recreated."