Penthouse to bargain basement
HONG Kong billionaire and casino owner Tony Fung quietly set fire to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of “chips’’ in an ill-fated investment in a Gold Coast penthouse.
Mr Fung bought the “raw’’ four-level penthouse in the 77-level Soul super-tower from receivers for $7 million in 2015. He has now sold it for $6.5 million.
The 1040sq m apartment was put on the market in February at $7.95 million in a move that received national and international exposure.
It has been sold in a deal that property records show was signed on June 14 and settled two weeks later.
The buyer is a company owned by 40-yearold Sydneysider Andrew Koloadin, who started website hosting business Digital Pacific 18 years ago and sold it to a US group for $52 million last year.
Michael Kollosche, of Kollosche Prestige Agents, would not comment yesterday on the penthouse sale.
The reason given in February for Mr Fung selling the property was that while he was on the Gold Coast, he was happy to live on his boat, the Asteria, or at Aquis Farm, his 447ha racehorse breeding property at Canungra.
The penthouse sits more than 220 metres above sea level and has Queensland’s highest private pool and spa.
Mr Fung bought it, via Aquis Soul Investments, as a shell and employed architectural firm BVN to create a bespoke design.
An upshot was that the penthouse today has approval for a larger internal living area.
It already has six ensuite bedrooms, a doublestorey lobby and a glass internal lift.
The 67-year-old Mr Fung owns the Canberra casino, which lost $13.8 million in its latest year, and has had aspirations for casinos on the Gold Coast and Cairns.
His Surfers Paradise holdings include an approved hotel site and a one-third holding in a full city block known as the Vomitron site, which is on the market.