One of North Sydney's best-known commercial buildings could become hundreds of new homes, with insurance giant Zurich Australia lodging a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) to transform 5 Blue Street into a mixed-use residential development above North Sydney Station.

Rather than demolishing the existing building and starting again, Zurich is proposing an adaptive reuse project that would convert the landmark office building into a 15-level residential development delivering 62 apartments, 86 affordable co-living dwellings, activated retail and significant upgrades to the Blue Street Plaza.

The proposal reflects a growing trend of commercial property owners repositioning ageing office assets into residential housing as Sydney grapples with housing supply shortages and changing workplace demand.

<img alt="Zurich" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0bba7d12-06dc-4375-aad7-238c94b21ac5" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-22%20at%2010.42.05%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=NJl5oLAEBDGuPmY3RnyliKODjMc8lvRh" />

Located directly above North Sydney Metro and train station, the 3,051 sqm site occupies one of the most strategically positioned parcels of land on Sydney's Lower North Shore.

Designed by fjcstudio, the proposal seeks to retain and adapt much of the existing structure while creating a contemporary residential address that better connects with the public domain surrounding North Sydney Station.

The application proposes two basement levels, ground floor retail, affordable co-living accommodation across the podium levels, and apartments above, while preserving and enhancing the publicly accessible Blue Street Plaza.

Rather than pursuing maximum apartment numbers, Zurich has opted for a housing mix heavily weighted towards larger owner-occupier residences.

The proposal includes 62 build-to-sell apartments comprising 12 one-bedroom, 19 two-bedroom, 29 three-bedroom apartments and two premium penthouses. It also incorporates 86 affordable co-living dwellings, which would be managed in perpetuity by a Community Housing Provider.

That balance between traditional apartments and affordable housing reflects the NSW Government's push to increase housing diversity around major transport infrastructure.

The proposal has been lodged concurrently with a rezoning application, with Zurich arguing the site is ideally positioned to support additional housing given its immediate proximity to public transport, employment and services.

"The proposal aims to respond to the housing challenges facing Sydney through the delivery of diverse housing types in a highly accessible location," the design report by fjcstudio states. It also seeks to improve pedestrian amenity through upgrades to Blue Street Plaza while creating a high-performing residential building that responds to the surrounding context.

<img alt="Zurich" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="36082e15-c636-4481-bb68-5a5f6443fe39" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-22%20at%2010.41.36%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=5P6VD.fvmqjQfIG3TWWMRXxQWiQBjeFB" />

Rather than replacing the commercial building, fjcstudio has developed a design that works with the existing structural framework above the rail corridor, an approach that significantly reduces demolition while allowing the site to be repositioned as a mixed-use residential precinct.

The existing structural constraints have informed much of the building's design, including its relationship with Blue Street and surrounding public spaces.

The building has been designed as a slender tower rising above a clearly defined podium, with vertically expressed façades intended to reduce the perceived bulk while reinforcing North Sydney's emerging skyline.

According to fjcstudio, the architectural language responds directly to the surrounding commercial towers while maintaining a finer grain expression more closely aligned with the neighbouring Lavender Bay streetscape.

The tower incorporates articulated façade elements, landscaped podium edges and recessed upper levels to soften its appearance and improve pedestrian amenity below.

A significant component of the proposal is the revitalisation of Blue Street Plaza.

The existing public space has long served as one of the primary pedestrian connections between North Sydney Station, Greenwood Plaza and Blue Street, yet its role is expected to become even more important following the opening of Sydney Metro.

Zurich's proposal seeks to strengthen that role by improving landscaping, introducing new retail frontages, enhancing pedestrian permeability and creating more active edges throughout the day and evening.

Ground floor retail would wrap the plaza, while separate residential and co-living entries have been designed to improve wayfinding without reducing street activation.

Landscape design has been integrated throughout the podium and public realm, softening what is currently one of the most heavily urbanised parts of North Sydney.

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fjcstudio has carefully oriented apartments towards Sydney Harbour and the CBD while using privacy blades and articulated façades to minimise overlooking between neighbouring buildings.

Large framed openings along the western elevation maximise harbour outlooks, while the eastern apartments have been angled towards the south-east to improve privacy from neighbouring development.

The project forms part of the continuing transformation of North Sydney from a predominantly commercial CBD into a genuine mixed-use city centre.

Since the completion of Victoria Cross Metro Station, developers have increasingly shifted their attention towards residential projects capable of leveraging the area's unparalleled transport connectivity.

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FiveX recently lodged plans for a 61-storey, 490-apartment tower that would become one of the tallest residential buildings in North Sydney if approved.

Aqualand continues to expand its Lower North Shore presence following the completion of AURA on Walker Street and its recent St Leonards and Roseville proposals.

Developers are also progressing projects throughout Walker Street, Miller Street and the Victoria Cross precinct as demand for well-located owner-occupier apartments continues to strengthen.

Joel Robinson

First look: Zurich targets North Sydney office conversion with 148-unit proposal above Metro station

Busy developer Aqualand Prestige has formally taken the next step in its expansion across Sydney's Lower North Shore, lodging a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) for its long-held Archer Street site in Chatswood.

The application covers <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/51-55-archer-street-chatswood-nsw-2067">51-55 Archer Street</a>, a 1,767 sqm amalgamated site on the eastern edge of the Chatswood CBD, where the developer is seeking approval for a 45-level mixed-use tower delivering 114 apartments, including a significant affordable housing component, alongside retail, commercial space and six basement levels of parking.

The SSDA marks the latest milestone for a project Aqualand has been quietly progressing over the past two years. The developer first secured the site for its Aqualand Prestige platform before undertaking an alternative design excellence process with PTW Architects, ultimately avoiding a formal design competition through the Housing Delivery Authority pathway.

The proposal has evolved considerably from Aqualand's original concept. The revised scheme has been designed around larger owner-occupier product, with an unusually high proportion of three and four-bedroom apartments, targeting the more affluent buyer profile, and downsizer, emerging across the North Shore.

<img alt="Archer St" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0171204c-5811-41b5-9b09-2335d1b7c3d0" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-22%20at%208.52.48%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=6YTuxfq.puZo7k2wbfgemcO5K3QfXYGQ" />

The 114-apartment mix comprises six studios, 27 one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedroom apartments, 50 three-bedroom residences and 13 four-bedroom homes. A quarter of the building will be dedicated to affordable housing, well above the mandated 15 per cent&nbsp;

PTW has structured the building vertically, with affordable housing across levels one to six, premium apartments through levels seven to 31, duplex skyhomes on klevels 32 to 43, a penthouse on level 44, and a rooftop plant level above. Six basement levels will provide resident parking and servicing.

The tower is proposed to reach approximately 154 metres, placing it among a growing collection of residential high-rises transforming Chatswood's skyline.

Rather than competing purely on height, PTW says the design has been driven by creating a slimmer tower capable of delivering significantly larger apartments.

"The primary objective of this project was to create a distinctive building that stands out from the recently approved or built structures in the Chatswood area," the design report states, noting the structural efficiency allows greater investment into apartment quality and resident amenity.

Residents would have access to more than 450 sqm of communal open space including landscaped gardens, swimming pool, rooftop entertaining areas, fitness spaces, community gardens, children's play areas and barbecue facilities.

A major focus of the design has been the public domain.

The ground plane has been opened up through landscaped terraces inspired by Willoughby's sandstone ridges, with native planting, public seating, artwork, retail activation and a series of gathering spaces intended to soften what has traditionally been a hard commercial streetscape.

The landscape strategy references Blue Gum forests once common throughout the area, while incorporating Indigenous storytelling, public art and lighting installations to strengthen the connection to Country.

Chatswood has been one of Sydney's busiest apartment markets over the past 12 months, with a steady pipeline of both new project launches and fresh development applications.

Hyecorp recently launched Celine, a 122-apartment development just along Archer Street, while Changfa and Huirong Group are progressing The Anderson, an 84-apartment project on Anderson Street.

Develotek recently secured approval for a 101-apartment tower on Pacific Highway, while Tian An LFD received the green light for Hammond Greens, its apartment development on the edge of the Chatswood Bowling Club.

Commercial property developer FiveX is also making its move into the residential market. Last month it lodged plans for a 61-storey tower with 490 apartments, which, if approved, would become one of the tallest residential buildings in Chatswood.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-fivex-targets-chatswood-skyline-with-61-storey-tower-after-north-sydney-plans">First look: FiveX targets Chatswood skyline with 61-storey tower after North Sydney plans</a>

Aqualand is also expanding its development pipeline following the launch of its luxury residential brand, Aqualand Prestige. The developer has delivered a string of high-end apartment projects across Sydney's affluent suburbs over the past decade, most recently AURA by Aqualand on Walker Street in North Sydney.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=30959 project_image_fid=292863]

It has since quietly assembled its next wave of projects.

Earlier this year Aqualand launched Boronia in Roseville, a boutique 111-apartment development on Larkin Street. The project is one of the first significant apartment developments to launch in the suburb ahead of what is expected to become one of Sydney's most active new housing precincts under the NSW Government's Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms, which allow greater density around train stations.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152095 project_image_fid=373685]

The developer has also lodged plans for a two-tower, 413-apartment development on Herbert Street in nearby St Leonards, further strengthening its presence across the Lower North Shore.

Beyond that, Aqualand remains behind the final stage of Barangaroo, where plans will deliver a five-hectare mixed-use precinct comprising new homes, retail, hospitality and community facilities, alongside a new Metro entrance and more than two hectares of public open space, completing the Barangaroo precinct.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/central-barangaroo-development-takes-big-step-with-concept-proposal-approval">Central Barangaroo development takes big step with concept proposal approval</a>

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-aqualand-joins-st-leonards-apartment-party">First look: Aqualand joins St Leonards apartment party</a> 
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First look: Aqualand pushes ahead with Chatswood apartment tower as SSDA lodged for Archer Street

Mass timber is becoming an increasingly popular construction material in apartment developments, but Adelaide developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/otello">Otello</a> is taking the approach a step further.

At its new <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flowe-bowden-18-gibson-street-bowden-sa-5007">Flowe Bowden</a> development, the exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure isn't just about reducing the building's environmental footprint. It also forms the foundation of a broader wellness strategy, influencing everything from indoor air quality and natural materials to the way residents move through and experience the building.

The 115-apartment mixed-use development, designed by Melbourne-based architecture practice Fieldwork, will occupy a prominent island site opposite Bowden Village Reserve, combining one, two and three-bedroom apartments with retail and a dedicated wellness destination.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375528]

Wellness isn't confined to a gym or shared resident facility at Flowe. Instead, Fieldwork embedded the concept into the building itself.

The development has been split into two residential wings connected by a naturally ventilated central breezeway, replacing traditional enclosed corridors with open-air walkways that improve natural light, encourage cross ventilation and create more opportunities for neighbourly interaction.

"Rather than treating wellness as something that only happens on the ground floor, our response integrates it throughout the building, which led us to ask what it really means to design a healthy building," Fieldwork Director Quino Holland said.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375531]

The building's architecture also reflects Bowden's industrial heritage. The lower podium references the area's historic brick and sandstone buildings, while the upper levels transition to exposed CLT, allowing the timber structure to become a defining feature throughout the apartments and shared spaces.

The use of mass timber sits alongside a range of sustainability initiatives, including a fully electric, gas-free design, rooftop solar and a targeted 5 Star Green Star rating.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375524]

Inside the residences, the focus remains on natural, durable materials. Blackbutt engineered timber flooring, exposed CLT ceilings, porcelain surfaces and warm timber joinery create a calming interior palette, while low-VOC finishes and responsibly sourced materials have been selected to improve indoor air quality.

Kitchens have been designed as the centrepiece of each apartment, featuring porcelain island benchtops, timber-look cabinetry and brushed steel tapware, with layouts that maximise natural light and ventilation.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375530]

The more traditional interpretation of wellness comes in the form of Level Eleven, a two-storey wellness club spanning the ground floor, mezzanine and first floor.

The facility will include a gym, yoga and reformer Pilates studios, Finnish and infrared saunas, magnesium hot and cold plunge pools, and dedicated recovery spaces. Unlike many residential wellness facilities, Level Eleven will also operate commercially, allowing the broader Bowden community to access the venue while giving residents exclusive membership benefits.

The ground floor has also been designed around everyday living. A café overlooking Bowden Village Reserve will activate the street frontage, while a bike workshop with tool storage, co-working space and dog wash has been incorporated to support daily routines and encourage interaction between residents.

"Flowe brings together my two biggest passions, creating places and creating healthier lives," Otello founder Daniel Harris said.

"We wanted to create something Adelaide hasn't seen before, a genuinely healthy building, where the way you live is lifted without even trying."

Flowe is positioned directly opposite Bowden Village Reserve and within walking distance of Bowden Railway Station and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, placing future residents just minutes from the Adelaide CBD while remaining connected to one of the city's most established urban renewal precincts.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=152022]

Otello launches wellness-focused Flowe Bowden with Adelaide-first mass timber apartment design

Not all apartment amenities are immediately visible.

Swimming pools, gyms, rooftop terraces and residents' lounges have long featured on buyers' wishlists, but as the way Australians live has changed, so too have the features that make apartment living more convenient.

Increasingly, buyers are placing value on the practical aspects of day-to-day life. Fast internet, EV charging, secure bike storage, flexible workspaces and parcel management are becoming just as relevant as lifestyle amenities, reflecting changing habits and expectations.

Online shopping has been one of the biggest drivers of that shift.

Australians spent a record $82.6 billion shopping online in 2025, with almost one in every four retail dollars now spent digitally, making parcel deliveries a routine part of everyday life rather than an occasional convenience.

For apartment residents, however, receiving those deliveries isn't always straightforward.

Without someone home to accept a parcel, deliveries can be redirected to a nearby Post Office, left in building foyers or common areas, or require building management to temporarily store packages. As apartment living continues to grow across Australia's cities, parcel management has become an increasingly important consideration for both residents and developers.

Australia Post's Parcel Locker network is one response to that shift.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KPZ9j5FRdsQ?si=Qztc1dNP3ZvEIUhb" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

Rather than relying on home delivery, eligible parcels can be directed to a nominated Parcel Locker, where they're securely stored until collected. Once a parcel arrives, residents receive a notification through the AusPost app or SMS and can retrieve it using a one-time code or QR code at a time that suits them.

The network has expanded to more than 1,500 locations nationwide, with Parcel Lockers positioned at Post Offices, shopping centres, supermarkets, transport hubs and, increasingly, within or alongside residential developments.

That growing presence reflects a broader change in how apartment buildings are being planned.

Developers are increasingly considering the operational side of apartment living alongside traditional lifestyle amenities. Just as secure mailrooms, bicycle storage and EV charging have become more common inclusions, parcel management is emerging as another feature that supports everyday convenience.

It also helps preserve the arrival experience within a building. Carefully designed lobbies and communal spaces can quickly become cluttered when deliveries accumulate, while secure parcel solutions reduce the likelihood of missed deliveries or parcels being left unattended.

For buyers comparing apartments, these everyday details are becoming part of the decision-making process.

Location, floorplans and finishes remain fundamental, but the features that simplify daily life are carrying greater weight than they once did. As online shopping continues to shape consumer behaviour, secure parcel delivery is increasingly becoming another amenity worth looking for.

Parcel delivery is joining the apartment amenity checklist

Inca Property Group has lodged a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) for Dawn, a 53-apartment oceanfront development overlooking Mona Vale Beach.

The proposal, at 35-39 Darley Street East, would replace an existing 18-apartment strata building with a new owner-occupier-focused development comprising 53 two and three-bedroom apartments, including nine affordable built-to-rent residences delivered under the State's infill affordable housing scheme.

Positioned on a 2,679 sqm elevated site around 280 metres from Mona Vale Beach, the development has been designed to maximise panoramic ocean views while responding to the site's sloping topography.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/inca-property-group">Inca Property Group</a> Managing Director Josh Thompson said the State Significant pathway provided greater certainty for projects of this scale.

"This State Significant pathway gives the team real certainty to progress <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/dawn-35-39-darley-street-east-mona-vale-nsw-2103">Dawn</a> through to completion," Thompson said.

"It allows us to acquire a one-off site, design it carefully and deliver the right offering for the suburb, assessed by the NSW Government's planning department."

The project is one of the first developments in the area to be assessed under the NSW Government's Low and Mid-Rise Housing policy, with the site sitting on the edge of the policy's designated inner area.

The proposal includes three basement levels providing 124 car spaces, alongside a range of resident amenities including a swimming pool, gym, sauna, wellness facilities and private plunge pools for selected ground-floor and penthouse apartments.

<img alt="Dawn" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fc1a1daf-0ce4-4f12-9076-b1fa553c7a91" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-21%20at%208.42.11%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=4GZ9h.gpNkTljbxyAET8Jfhv51XUamDm" />

Thompson said Dawn had been designed specifically for owner-occupiers and downsizers, a buyer profile that has driven demand across Inca's recent Upper North Shore developments.

"The majority of buyers in our recent North Shore projects have been downsizers, and we are learning exactly what this market is looking for. Beyond the location itself, we have included resort-style amenities to deliver a genuine lifestyle offering," Thompson said.

Located within walking distance of Mona Vale Beach, the town centre, Mona Vale Golf Club and the Royal Motor Yacht Club, Dawn represents Inca's first Northern Beaches project following the sell-out of Tara on Park in Waitara and Ellis Residences, currently under construction in St Ives.

Construction will be undertaken by Inca's in-house construction arm, GOP Constructions.

Dawn is the latest major apartment proposal for Mona Vale, with the suburb emerging as one of the key beneficiaries of the NSW Government's new Low and Mid-Rise Housing policy.

New developer One Living, led by industry veteran Joseph Scuderi, recently secured a site on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, where it is planning around 140 apartments.

IPM is also planning its third project in Mona Vale, significantly increasing the scale of its previous developments with an 82-apartment proposal at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/159-167-darley-street-west-mona-vale-nsw-2103">159-167 Darley Street West</a>, opposite Bayview Golf Course and less than 800 metres from Mona Vale town centre.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/one-living-enters-sydneys-new-apartment-market-with-northern-beaches-site-acquisition">One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition</a>

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-ipm-plans-third-mona-vale-project">First look: IPM plans third Mona Vale project</a>

First look: Inca eyes Mona Vale with State Significant DA for Dawn apartments

Portsea

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Former Liberal Party treasurer and businessman Andrew Abercrombie and wife Shadda have sold their limestone Portsea holiday home.
Provenance is understood to have sold for around $5 million, having spent over 150 days on the market before its sale through Kay &amp; Burton agent Liz Jensen.
Abercrombie, reportedly brokered the lucrative float of his company FlexiGroup from the home, which is today worth over $1 billion.
He paid $668,000 in 1998 for the holding which now comes with a seven bedroom, five bathroom house along with a limestone guest cottage, barbecue pavilion, tennis court and inifinity edge swimming pool sit on the 3,750 sqm parcel.
The Toorak based Abercrombie couple have recently completed a new waterfront holiday home nearby.
Provenance has been bought by the property developer Jonathan Altson and his wife Elizabeth who are whispered to have recently sold their three level, four bedroom Brighton home.
This article first appeared in The Weekend Australian Mansion Australia section. 
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Provenance at Portsea sold by Andrew Abercrombie

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The former Computershare director Michele O'Halloran, who broke the Victorian residential house record when she sold historic Ilyuka, has bought back into Portsea.
It was 2010 when O'Halloran her the clifftop Spanish Mission style mansion to BRW Rich Lister John Higgins for $26 million.
The eight bedroom, eight bathroom home stood as the state's most expensive until late last year when the Besen home in Toorak sold for $26.25 million.
O'Halloran paid $7.5 million for the home in 1999.
Her buy back into the Mornington Peninsula has been a little more modest as she's spent $6.2 million on a nearby home that sits between Ilyuka and Port Nepean Road (above and below).
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/06/19/Portsea.jpg" alt="">
The contemporary five bedroom home opens to the swimming pool.
This article was first published in The Weekend Australian.
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Former Computershare director Michele O'Halloran returns to Portsea

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Future Fund board member Michael Wachtel and photographer wife Linda headlined the Easter weekend Portsea auction listings.
It was passed in at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-portsea-124942066" target="_blank">$1.26 million and sold soon after</a>.
There were 27 auction across the Mornington Peninsula the weekend.
The couple's  long-time Back Beach Road weekender was been listed after the Australia Day weekend auction acquisition closer to the bay.
The couple paid $660,000 for the home in 2004.
Kay &amp; Burton agent Liz Jensen has been marketing the home as a 'charming Portsea beach house'.
The classic 'L' shape holiday home has five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a north-facing entertaining sun deck that flows from the kitchen, dining and living spaces.
Wachtel, who is also an advisor at Credit Suisse, spent $1.95 million on Blair Ridge which came with Fiona Brockhoff designed gardens.
It's been a busy time for Wachtel, who also sold his long-held Toorak home last month at a private auction for just under $8 million to Fraser Wilkinson of Wilkinson Electronic Document Solutions.
The Cross Street terrace, which cost $726,000 in the recession-hit Melbourne in 1992, sold through Kay &amp; Burton agents Gerald Delany and Michael Gibson.
They have paid $3.2 million for a 400 sqm Balmerino Ave, Toorak site where they intend building a new town house.
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Wachtel headlined Easter Portsea offerings

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The pharmaceutical entrepreneur Jeremy Cutts and wife Robin have bought on the Portsea clifftop.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-portsea-124374698" target="_blank">The property</a> was offered for the first time in 35 years having last sold in 1982 to the Lansell family for $400,000.  
The large eight bedroom family home near the tip of Point Nepean Road overlooks the bay from its elevated 1685 sqm holding.
There's a mod-grass tennis court and boat mooring.
The South Yarra based couple already own in Portsea, inland some two kilometres away from their new purchase.
The cocktail party tattle on the acquisition has been growing louder ever since Abercromby's agent Tim Derham sold the home 10 days before Christmas. 
Last September Cutts oversaw the $90 million sale of Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, which he established APM in 2002. 
Cutts joins former Swisse Vitamins owner Stephen Ring on the peninsula since he paid $7.58 million last year after the company sold for $1.67 billion.
The reputed $10 million plus Cutts purchase bettered the priciest sale at Sydney's Palm Beach over summer. It was when restaurant entrepreneur John Szangolies bought in Sydney's comparable location, Iluka Road for $9.2 million.
Szangolies pocketed nearly $200 million in 2015 when he sold his Urban Purveyor Property Group private equity group Quadrant.
This article first appeared in the Weekend Australian's Mansion Australia section.
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Entrepreneur Jeremy Cutts buys on Portsea clifftop

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The Credit Suisse advisor Michael Wachtel has bought the Portsea weekender, Blair Ridge for $1.95 million.
The Toorak based Future Fund board member and photographer wife, Linda secured <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-portsea-124403442" target="_blank">the three bedroom home</a> at its Australia Day long weekend auction.
There's a large entertaining deck that overlooks the Fiona Brockhoff designed gardens where the RT Edgar agents Warwick Anderson and Ilze Morgan held the auction.
It came on the market at $1,925,000 with underbidding from a woman with a State of Escape handbag.
Wachtel, a past president of the International Fiscal Association, went and got his ANZ chequebook from his black BMW after the auction which had three bidders.
The Armadale barrister James Mighell and wife Alison had owned the home since 1997 when they paid $247,500. 
The famous Bell stockbroking family members were among the crowd as Colin senior and widow Rachel, had the home as a weekender from their Malvern base in the 1950s.
Brothers Andrew and Lewis were there, however Colin junior was sailing on Pittwater.
The late Sun newspaper columnist Jack Cannon and wife Judith sold it in 1997, some 17 years after paying $45,000 in 1980.
Just along Blair Road, Toorak-based entertainment lawyer Andrew Abercrombie and wife Shadda are selling Provenance having spent nearly $10 million on the Wayne Gillespie-designed Mandurah in 2015.
They're asking for over $5 million for the 2000 built, seven bedroom home on its 3,758 square metre holding. 
The couple paid $666,000 in 1998. 
Wachtel is currently selling his five-bedroom Toorak home with a price guide of $6.8 million-plus having paid $3.2 million for a 410 square metre site elsewhere in Toorak where they will build a new house.
This article first appeared in The Weekend Australian.
 
 
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Portsea buy by Future Fund's Michael Wachtel

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There’s two Portsea bathing boxes for sale set among tea trees on the Shelley Beach foreshore.
Agents expect <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-portsea-124335854" target="_blank">box number 43</a> (above) to fetch about $500,000.
It was number 23 sold for a record price of $615,000 in late 2015 at auction while Boat Shed No.1 on Portsea’s Front Beach received an offer of more than $700,000 last year, before the listing was withdrawn.
“It wasn’t high enough for the vendors to let go of an asset that they know they can never replace,” Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Sorrento’s Rob Curtain told the local paper.
Dubbed by the agent as the “buttercup boatshed”, no. 43 sits at the foot of the main track to Shelley Beach, near the Hemston Avenue car park.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-portsea-124449762" target="_blank">Number 37</a>, (below) between the car park and Campbells Road stairs, is also on the market for $400,000.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/17/Portsea-2.jpg" alt="">
There are about 50 on Shelley Beach.
Kay and Burton’s Liz Jensen is the listing agent of no. 43.
The Shelley Beach boat sheds are north facing, and typically sheltered from prevailing winds.
Mr Curtain is the listing agent for no. 37.
 
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Two Portsea beach boxes listed for sale

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The clifftop Rovina estate which was the season's top Portsea property offering, has been sold for $10.7 million, well above its $8 million-plus price guidance.
CoreLogic RP Data put <a href="/news">the seaside suburb's median house price</a> at a record $1.8 million.
The five bedroom home has a Mediterranean villa influence interpreted by society architect Geoffrey Sommers.
The eclectic home comes with a separate bluestone cottage at the 3808 Point Nepean Road holding on Fishermans Beach accessed via a private walkway. 
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-portsea-121585322" target="_blank">Gerald Delany and Liz Jensen of Kay &amp; Burton had the property</a> inconjunction with Warwick Anderson and IIze Moran at RT Edgar.
It last sold in 1983 at $714,000 under mortgagee instructions through RT Edgar having previously traded at $450,000 in late 1977.
Businessman James O'Connor's 1983 sale came after his Mercedes dealership, Kew Star Motors hit some financing issues in the recession. 
The 1983 Rovina transfer paperwork was to Pacrana Pty Ltd, a company associated with Brighton businessman Brian Davis, the octogenarian 1950s founder of the Australian housewares company Décor Corp.
Rovina <a href="/news/rovina-headlines-portseas-summer-of-limited-2016-prestige-property-listings">headlined Portsea's summer of limited 2016 prestige property listings</a> in January.
 
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Rovina at Portsea sells for $10.7 million

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A Portsea's bathing box still sits on the market, but is quite close to sale.
Listed for the first time in 25 years with $600,000 hopes, there's been one strong offer coming late summer. 
It came on the market in November with the boat shed being unusually constructed of concrete.
<a href="https://www.domain.com.au/no-1-boat-shed-portsea-front-beach-point-franklin-portsea-vic-3944-2012482650" target="_blank">Boat Shed No.1</a> was originally built as a bunker during World War II below Fort Franklin.
It measures about 12 sqm in size with a large deck.
It was last on sale 25 years ago to Rob Pitt who owns the Sorrento Hotel with wife Anne. Family members have been reluctant to let it go, Title Tattle gleans.
There have been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H95umF81E_U" target="_blank">35,000 plus youtube </a>views.
The listing agent Rob Curtain of Peninsula Sotheby’s International Realty said he was confident the bathing would fetch a higher sale price than the last boat shed to change hands.
It was a 20 sqm timber shed on nearby Shelley Beach which fetched a record $615,000 at auction late last year.
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Portsea boatshed No 1 still on the market

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The clifftop Rovina estate is the season's top Portsea property offering, but just $8 million-plus is the price guidance for the trophy home.
Overlooking Portsea pier and Weeroona Bay, it was built in the early 1960's utilising materials, including columns, from some of Melbourne's most magnificent buildings from the last century.
The five bedroom home has a Mediterranean villa influence interpreted by society architect Geoffrey Sommers, who had his home home on London Bridge Road, near the backbeach.
The eclectic home comes with a separate bluestone cottage at the 3808 Point Nepean Road holding.
The buyer will have the option to purchase the boatshed, situated directly below the house on Fishermans Beach accessed via a private walkway. 
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-portsea-121585322" target="_blank">Gerald Delany and Liz Jensen of Kay &amp; Burton have the property</a> inconjunction with Warwick Anderson and IIze Moran at RT Edgar with offers due February 18.
It last sold in 1983 at $714,000 under mortgagee instructions through RT Edgar having previously traded at $450,000 in late 1977.
Businessman James O'Connor's 1983 sale came after his Mercedes dealership, Kew Star Motors hit some financing issues in the recession. 
The recession also saw O'Connor - known as Jimmy like his hotelier father - lose what had been Melbourne's first $1 million home, which he had bought from Maurice Nathan in 1980 for $1.01 million on St Georges Road.
The 1983 Rovina transfer paperwork, lodged by Madden Butler Elder &amp; Graham, was to Pacrana Pty Ltd, a company associated with Brighton businessman Brian Davis, the octogenarian 1950s founder of the Australian housewares company Décor Corp, whose former wife is Marilyn Darling, nee Skinner.
Rovina, on 1990sqm near The Cutting, had been bought in 1977 by O'Connor with vendor finance from the Watkins family of Toorak, who'd owned it for the prior 16 years. Peggy and Larry Watkins had O'Connor, who was living in Barridene apartment 101, in the early 1970s Toorak block, pay back the loan by 1980. The 1977 marketing advertisement suggested the interest rate was 10 percent. 
At the time Mr Jensen at RT Edgar advertised Rovina as a gracious classical residence built around a magnificent atrium. There was a 50 foot by 20 foot living room. Reference was made to the doric columns and bluestone stairs to beach and mooring. Title Tattle would suggest the columns came from the 1960 Whelan The Wrecker-demolished Colonial Mutual building, on the corner of Collins and Elizabeth streets, since Sommers had some columns at his nearby residence.
Owners through earlier years included sharebroker Alfred Mellor from 1954 to 1957; with Toorak couple, Ken and Kath Guest who also owned the original Laughing Water estate at Eltham, holding it between 1957 and 1961.
Décor, based in Scoresby, manufactures 450 products include kitchenware, food-storage containers, wine coolers, picnicware and gardenware.
The company’s annual sales were once advised as US$77.5 million.
Davis’ first product was a plastic tumbler in a plastic case with Décor’s most successful product being a two-bottle portable wine cooler that allows patrons to take their own drinks to restaurants. The award-winning product is included in the New York Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.
Davis’ career began at Coles later to work at his uncle’s toy company as sales manager. He then worked at a California-based plastics company for a year, returning to Australia when in 1958, he formed Décor, which was originally called Brian Davis and Co. Pty. Ltd.
Décor first started exporting in 1960, with about 75 percent of the company’s products manufactured in Australia; the rest are made in China having started manufacturing there in 1980.
<a href="/news/portseas-mandurah-sold-at-9-75-million">Mandurah, the double-storey house designed by Wayne Gillespie on the Portsea cliff top</a>, was last summer's top sale at $9.75 million.
Mandurah was a 1,969 square metre holding with tennis court above Fisherman’s Beach.
At $8.25 million, the FlexiGroup founder and chairman Andrew Abercrombie, who owns 25 per cent of the $900 million lease and retail credit company, and wife, Shadda paid 2015's second highest known Portsea price.
The 2,600 sqm property, opposite Relph Avenue, was bought off market from the Newman family, associated with the former Gunns chairman Chris Newman.
It had last sold at $3.5 million in 2002.  
Portsea’s most expensive mansion sale remains <a href="/expert-insights/investing/palm-beach-v-portsea-jonathan-chancellor-and-margie-blok-offer-30-plus-insights">Ilyuka</a> which former Computershare director Michele O'Halloran sold for $26 million in 2010 to John Higgins, a Victorian house record. The Spanish Mission-style home was built in 1928-29 for oil executive Harry Conforth.
CoreLogic RP Data put <a href="/developments/portsea-vic-3944">the seaside suburb's median house price</a> at a record $1.8 million.
 
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Rovina headlines Portsea's summer of limited 2016 prestige property listings

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Mandurah, the double-storey house designed by Wayne Gillespie on the Portsea cliff top, has settled with David and Jennifer Swann its $9.75 million buyers.
It had returned to the market last summer with <a href="/news/mandurah-the-12-million-portsea-clifftop-summer-offering">a $12 million asking price</a>. It was the highest recorded price of the 2015 summer season.
The five bedroom, five bathroom trophy home was listed by the former Hinkler Books publishing boss Robert Ungar who reportedly had unfulfilled $10 million plus hopes the prior summer.
It was offered through Sotheby's International Realty agent Robert Curtain.
Ungar bought the then two-year-old house at 3820 Point Nepean Road 20 years ago with wife Rosemary.
It sold at the 1995 Australia Day weekend auction for $2,625,000, one of nine clifftop mansions at Portsea and Sorrento and Portsea to sell for above $1 million during 1995.
The Ungar's are off to a new home at Blairgowrie.
Mandurah is a 1,969 square metre holding with tennis court above Fisherman’s Beach.
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