Divide and conquer Adjoining properties to share
A FAMILY which bought a 405sq m beachfront lot in Mermaid Beach for $30,000 more than 40 years ago is poised to increase the lot’s size by 50 per cent – potentially at a cost of $2 million or more.
They are members of the Tristram family, which started the Tristram’s soft-drinks business in Brisbane in 1875.
The 1978 buy by Trisco Holdings, associated with Ian and Merrilyn Tristram, was at 193 Hedges Ave, today tagged Multi-Millionaires’ Row.
It today is occupied by a three-level house.
The Tristrams and the owners of the single-level 197 Hedges Ave have an arrangement to buy the older-style house that separates the two properties, demolish the house, and each take half of the 405sq m site.
That lot, at 195 Hedges Ave, has a rateable value of $4.2 million.
It is owned by long-term Gold Coast doctor Allan Deed, who bought it for $260,000 in 1986.
The property is one of two he bought in the street after crossing the Tasman.
The other, bought in 1987, was a double lot and was sold to neighbour and former cinema owner Terry Jackman for $8 million in 2006.
The latest sale by Dr Deed to the neighbours is subject to the city council approving a reconfiguration plan.
The other buyers, at No. 197, are Stuart and Diane
Bowden, who bought their property for $690,000 in 1990.
The Bowdens are major graziers from the Longreach area in western Queensland.
The purchases from Dr Deed will lift the size of the Tristram and Bowden lots to 607sq m and put them in medium-density territory.
A spokesperson for Dr Deed said his friend, who had lost his wife, was in his 90s and had been a resident in a beachfront tower for some time.
“The couple lived in the
Hedges house for many years but it’s now time for it to be sold.”
The amount being paid for the Deed property has not been disclosed but the Tristrams and the Bowdens might not necessarily be paying equal amounts.
The north-facing Bowden lot is regarded as more valuable because it has a Ventura Ave frontage as well as its Hedges Ave one.
Its rateable value, at $4.6 million, is $400,000 higher than the Deed and Tristram properties.