Solving mystery buy
Toy baron Solomon joins stepdad Stul on Coast after $24m purchase of Nobbys Outlook resort
THE cat may be out of the bag over a property mystery that started on the Gold Coast with a $23.75 million sale at an auction three months ago.
The property involved is the very weary Nobbys Outlook resort at Miami and the name of the buyer has been kept under tighter security than a 10-carat diamond Christmas present.
The deal finally has settled but the identity of the buyers is yet to appear on the records.
That said, try the name Paul Solomon, worn by a Melbourne fellow whose wealth could not be described as kids’ stuff.
No, the 41-year-old businessman is the co-chief executive at Moose Toys, a company whose Shopkins products have turned into a children’s toy craze internationally.
He also just happens to be the stepson of Moose chairman Manny Stul, who appears on both Australian and international rich-lists.
Manny’s probably applauding his stepson’s property taste, especially when it comes to the Gold Coast.
Last year Manny, who is nudging 70 and was born in a German refugee camp to Polish parents, surfaced as the $25 million buyer of a beachfront home in Mermaid Beach’s Albatross Ave.
That property, which is not too far from Nobbys Outlook, called Tidemark and was built for one of the men who floated Billabong International, Scott Perrin.
Manny appeared to have bought well below replacement cost for a home that at one time was the subject of a scorned $52 million offer.
Whether the Nobbys Outlook buy, apparently through Solomon-owned trustee company Marsol Capital, proves equally astute remains to be seen.
The winning bid for the 50year-old resort, which overlooks the ocean in Marine Pde, was made over the phone at a September auction ordered by court-appointed trustees Bradley Hellen and Ann Fordyce, of Pilot Partners, after the 46 units were put under one title.
The buyer used Michael Kollosche, the agent who handled the Perrin sale to Manny Stul, to do his bidding.
The auction drew some bighitters, such as billionaire Bob Ell, land developer Nev Pask, and management-rights veteran Frank Picone.
The losing bidder, at $23.51 million, was Barry Moris ris, who’s built a swag of highrise apartments in the Burleigh-Broadbeach strip.
After the auction there were indications the new owner intended to revamp the resort and hold it for a period.
That won’t be cheap – one of the reasons the owners of the units opted to sell was a bill of up to $4 million to “restore” the U-shaped buildings.
In the longer term, the 7284sq m Nobbys Outlook site obviously will be redeveloped or split into multiple lots; a three-storey project is permitted, with a possible dispensation to go to four levels.
Maybe Paul will use it for a giant home, one to rival stepdad’s Tidemark.
THE DEAL FINALLY HAS SETTLED BUT THE IDENTITY OF THE BUYERS YET TO APPEAR ON THE RECORDS.