Penthouse record sale
PROPERTY development company owner Ron Bakir has taken the Gold Coast penthouse record skyward, selling his palatial Surfers Paradise apartment for $9.5 million.
The sale of the 39th-floor Chevron Renaissance apartment tops the city’s previous penthouse high of $9.2 million, set six years ago when Melbourne builder Peter Devitt bought the apartment that crowns Main Beach’s Liberty Panorama tower.
The buyer of the Bakir penthouse – created on a floor originally intended to house six apartments but which became the offices of the Raptis Group – is a Gold Coast resident.
Their new whole-floor apartment comes with features such as three temperature-controlled wine cellars, a 12-seat rooftop teppanyaki grill, eight drop-down TV sets, parking for 21 cars, and 650sqm of storage space – the equivalent of three average-size homes.
It has four en suite bedrooms and living area that is 35 metres long.
Mr Bakir, who at 17 was the founder of the Crazy Ron’s mobile-phone business in Queensland, has been operating the HomeCorp property group for more than a decade and expects to build 600 homes in the Brisbane-Gold Coast corridor, Ipswich and Toowoomba in 2018.
He and wife Maja, who in September became parents when daughter Vienna was born, intend building a riverfront family home on the Isle of Capri.
Their Skyline Central penthouse originally was put on the market at $12.5 million in 2016, with the price later cut to $9.95 million.
Mr Bakir bought the exRaptis offices from receivers to a company linked to failed share-trading firm chief “Aussie Rob” Wilson for $1.2 million in 2014.
He then spent several million dollars turning the space into a penthouse with a “‘wow” factor, aided by design tips from Sunland Group chairman Soheil Abedian.
Kollosche Prestige Agents principal Michael Kollosche, who marketed the penthouse in tandem with Prestige Property’s Harry Kakavas, yesterday said Mr Bakir had created a spectacular apartment.
“When you complete a job like this to such a high standard, you can expect to get a premium price,” he said.
Mr Kakavas yesterday said the Bakir penthouse was one of the best in Australia.
“If it was in the right location in Sydney or Melbourne, it would have sold for $20 million or more,” he said. “The Gold Coast market offers outstanding value compared to those cities.”
Mr Kollosche doubted the sales record would last.
“I believe it will be broken this year as more quality developments are being completed,” he said.