Developer John rethinks plans after $6.95m buy
DEVELOPER John Potter is revising his plans for a new home after spending $6.95 million on a beachfront property in Mermaid Beach’s Millionaires’ Row.
His purchase of 123 Hedges Ave is the second big-ticket buy in the street in a week, coming after an interstate buyer seeking a holiday home paid $4.9 million for No. 215.
Mr Potter last year sold his four-level Hamptons-style family home at 9 Hedges Ave to billionaire Clive Palmer for $12 million.
He started planning a replacement house for a 405 sqm lot he owned at 49 Hedges Ave.
Mr Potter yesterday said his new site, on the northern corner of Venice St, was 607 sqm and offered him greater design scope.
“I intend to move quickly with demolition and would hope to have building under way on the site, all going well, by mid-year.”
The property is one of four 607 sqm sites in Hedges Ave and all have 15-metre beach frontages — the predominant 405 sqm lots have 10-metre frontages.
The new buy takes the number of lots owned by Mr Potter in Hedges Ave since 2005 to six.
Prior to 2005 he owned three properties in adjoining beachfront street Albatross Ave.
The 123 Hedges property has been sold by a company linked to Christina Kennedy and has been in the Kennedy family since 2001.
Tony Velissariou, of Tony V Real Estate, yesterday said the price paid by Mr Potter showed the Mermaid beachfront market remained stoically strong.
“There aren’t a lot of properties and only intermittently do owners elect to sell.”
Mr Velissariou handled the sale of 123 Hedges in tandem with Lloyd Donaldson, of Bundall’s Lloyd James group.
The sale of 215 Hedges Ave was handled by The Agency’s John Natoli.