Hotel developer Dr Jerry Schwartz and his wife Debbie are making a significant upgrade from their Vaucluse waterfront home, Loch Maree, to the nearby estate Phoenix Acres, which they recently bought from Singaporean tycoon Chio Kiat Ow for close to $67 million.
The Schwartz purchase comes just two years after the family bought their Michael Dysart-designed home on nearby Loch Maree Place for $24 million, and just months after they completed a significant renovation.
No time has been wasted returning the Schwartz family home to the market in preparation for their move to the larger Phoenix Acres estate.
Loch Maree hit the market on Friday with a price guide of $32 million through Michael Pallier, of Sotheby's International.
Jerry Schwartz is also a cosmetic surgeon who owns or has an interest in 13 hotels and hotel developments, including the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour and the new Four Points by Sheraton in downtown Sydney.
Fellow hotel mogul C. K. Ow, chairman of luxury hotel, commercial and retail property developer Stamford Land Corporation, listed his Vaucluse estate in October because, he said, he does "not spend sufficient time [in Sydney] to enjoy this jewel of a property as my travels take me to many other, far reaches of the world".
Ow bought the 3700-square-metre property in 1995 for $7,001,000 when it was sold under instruction from the mortgagee.
The sale of Phoenix Acres - through Craig Pontey, of Ray White Double Bay - was the second highest of 2017, boosting Sydney's trophy home market to a record high of $600 million of deals in the top 20 sales.
Point Piper's $40 million deal
Serviced apartment and hotel businessman Con Kotis, who heads up AeA Hotels, secured one of the last-minute trophy deals of 2017 to sell his Point Piper home and the block of eight apartments next door.
The deal was negotiated by CBRE's Ben Stewart and independent sources say the sale price for the double-block was about $40 million.
The sale price represents a fairly even split of $20 million each for Kotis' free-standing home and the 1950s-era block of eight apartments next door.
The site, on the corner of Wunulla Road opposite Cranbrook School, is expected to be a development for up to 28 apartments.???
