Pinnacle of penthouse luxury

It has been touted as being worth $20m, but the level of detail and workmanship that has been poured into this immaculate sky home is simply immeasurable

DESPITE devoting two and half years of blood, sweat and tears to creating his Surfers Paradise penthouse, owner Andrew Koloadin has yet to lay his head on one of the pillows – and it is unlikely he ever will.

The property is about to be auctioned in what has become one of the most anticipated apartment sales of the year after agents valued it at $20m and it was announced that buyers could pay in cryptocurrency.

Mr Koloadin forked out $6.5m for the concrete shell of an apartment, which he bought from Hong Kong tycoon Tony Fung in 2018.

“When I walked in there was literally nothing there; no ceilings, absolutely nothing. I wanted to walk straight back out, until I stepped on to the balconies,” Mr Koloadin said. “The view was amazing.” Even so, the amount of work involved meant he initially walked away.

“It wasn’t until three months later, when I saw it was still for sale, that I thought I’d go have another look.”

The time out had given him a chance to think about what would be involved in turning it into his dream holiday home and, not one to shy away from a challenge, Mr Koloadin decided to take the plunge.

The next two years were spent flying between the Coast and Sydney, where he was in the midst of another renovation, with the finishing touches on the penthouse only recently being completed.

Crowning the top four floors of the Soul building, 230m above sea level in the heart of Surfers, there is certainly nothing lacking, luxury or otherwise, from the man-made monolith. At 1070sq m it is the equivalent of a mega mansion in the sky.

It has five bedrooms, several living areas including a separate bar and lounge, a stateof-theart kitchen, two spas and a private swimming pool, alfresco barbecue and entertaining space on the rooftop, all serviced by a private lift.

Mr Koloadin, who in 2018 sold the tech company he started from his bedroom for $52m, said he spared no expense in the penthouse’s construction or fit-out.

“It was never my intention to build and sell it,” he said. “The money I was putting into it was for me. I picked every single item that’s in there and spent more on building it than I did buying it.”

And it shows, from the decadent marble flooring to the bespoke joinery, which was custom designed and in most instances had to be built on site.

With Mr Koloadin’s background in tech, everything that can be automated is, from the electric blinds to the Japanese toilets, which were worth $12,500 each and do everything short of blow-drying your hair.

“The house can’t cook your toast in the morning, but it can do just about everything else,” Mr Koloadin laughed.

In another unique twist, everything in the penthouse, down to the Cuban cigars in the humidor, comes with the sale.

“It is truly a walk in, walk out opportunity,” Mr Koloadin said. “No one has ever stayed there, not even me. It is the equivalent of a new-build home.”

Yet for all the bells and whistles, the most breathtaking aspect of this property is what drew Mr Koloadin to it in the first place — the view.

Sure, you can’t help but gawp at the grand chandelier cascading from the ceiling of the floor above but it is the vast expanse of turquoise blue water laid out 230m below and stretching to the horizon that your eye returns to time and again, and is what makes this apartment priceless.