Monaco-based mining magnate Chris Kyriakou has done an off-market deal on the historic Bowral landmark, the Grand Arcade, for about $10 million, ending his decades-long ties to the Southern Highlands.
The sale is more than double the $4.75 million it last traded for in 1999 when it was sold by former BRW Rich List brothers Ken and Carl Berkeley, sons of the late furrier Leo Berkeley.
Built in 1888, it was the oldest hotel in Bowral before it was bought by developer Bill Shipton in 1989 for $25,000 and, thanks to investment input from Mark Bouris in 1994, was redeveloped into a hotel and retail complex.
Shipton and Bouris' Beachepic II company sold it in 1997 for $4.33 million to the Berkeley family.
Kyriakou's former wife Phoebe Kyriakou had a caveat placed on the title of the 2000-square-metre property in the heart of Bowral until recently as part of their divorce settlement. She remains a resident of the Woollahra mansion they purchased in 2011 for $7.9 million.
Among Kyriakou's most notable Southern Highlands holding was his Kangaloon cattle farm Anthea Park, which was sold for $3 million to businessman Theo Onisforou in 1996 and now makes up a good part of Onisforou's KO Angus Stud.
Drew Lindsay, of his eponymous agency, listed the historic property with a $10.25 million guide before it was sold to a buyer introduced by the agency's John Ross. It sold for a fraction less than $10 million to a syndicate of families from the Sutherland Shire.
John Hewson revises ambitions
Former Liberal leader John Hewson hasn't managed to bag a buyer for his historic Southern Highlands home Invergowrie, but he's finally been coaxed out of it to move into the Bowral township with his wife Jessica while they patiently await a buyer.
Originally listed in 2009 for $11 million, Hewson's ambitions have been revised steadily downwards to a $6.2 million asking price, now listed with Michael Maloney, of Richardson & Wrench Bowral.
And while they wait, the now vacant Tudor-style property built for BHP industrialist Sir Cecil Hoskins has hit the rental market to the right renter for $1500 a week.
Former Liberal leader John Hewson and his wife Jessica's Southern Highlands six-bedroom home 'Invergowrie'. Photo: Supplied.
