In actual property phrases, Elaine, the 1863 waterfront mansion in Sydney’s Level Piper, may very well be described as a little bit of a fixer-upper, with loads of potential.
And that’s how Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar and his spouse, enterprise capitalist Kim Jackson, noticed it once they purchased the seven-bedroom Victorian mansion, which as soon as belonged to members of the Fairfax media dynasty, for document $71 million in 2017.
A 12 months later that document worth was pipped by his cofounder, Mike Cannon-Brookes, who paid $100 million for the home subsequent door, Fairwater, additionally beforehand owned by the Fairfaxes.
It appeared like the 2 UNSW college students who met in 1998 and created a $73 billion software program firm collectively, sharing the co-CEO position for greater than twenty years, have been destined to be collectively, perpetually, however now that’s all modified.
A month after stepping down as Atlassian’s co-CEO, Farquhar has offered Elaine, for $130 million.
The sale worth matches what the Farquhars paid for a 124-year-old Scottish baronial castle-styled mansion atop Level Piper, Uig Lodge, in 2022. They dwell there, having by no means moved into Elaine, which sits subsequent to the Murray Rose (Redleaf) harbour pool and diagonally reverse Cranbrook, the place Cannon-Brookes went to high school.
And if some media studies are to be believed, objections to Elaine’s redevelopment from the neighbour performed their half within the change of coronary heart.
Rome-based expatriate architect Carl Pickering developed a $37 million renovation plan for Elaine, which gave the property a putting new facade, made a short public look in 2020, earlier than they have been all of a sudden withdrawn from council previous to public remark.
John B. Fairfax, who offered Elaine to the Farquhars in 2017, went again into media mode at his outdated stomping floor when he informed the AFR that: “Scott had some fairly unique plans for the home, and I perceive there have been objections from Fairwater to the design”.
Whereas Elaine has some heritage worth, it’s half-demolished, has asbestos points, is now overgrown after being unused for seven years and a great distance from its glory days. The brand new proprietor, an unnamed native, may use redevelopment plans accepted again when the Fairfax nonetheless owned it or maybe they might, given Sydney’s predilection for turning waterfront land into luxurious flats the brand new proprietor may reap the benefits of the R3 Medium Density Residential zoning for the 7000 square-metre web site and construct a block of posh flats.
Perhaps treasurer Daniel Mookhey may spend that cash on backing NSW startups, given it’s the success of 1 that’s handed him such a large windfall.
