Luxury car importer Neville Crichton has capped off an already momentous year in Point Piper's trophy home market by buying a beachfront property worth about $45 million next door to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The deal is the fourth high-end sale in Point Piper that Crichton has signed his name to in the past year as either a buyer or seller, totalling more than $160 million worth of prime waterfront real estate.
His latest purchase is the half complete rebuild of the Mediterranean-inspired residence previously known as Deauville that was until recently the home of Michele and Dr Glenn Haifer, a healthcare businessman and recent appointee to the board of South Australian medical technology firm LBT Innovation.
A major renovation commissioned by the Haifers is currently under way on DA plans first lodged in 2013 with extensive modifications to the four-level home that include a new plunge pool, Paul Bangay-designed landscaping, enlarged garaging and a new boatshed.
The exact purchase price remains unknown, but sources say negotiations are expected to close at $45 million for the completed residence. Earlier negotiations over the property were at $40 million for the half-built residence, with Crichton bearing the cost of completion.
When approached late last week Crichton denied he had bought the property. "I've looked at five waterfront houses in Point Piper and I haven't bought a thing," he said.
However, negotiations have since been finalised and a caveat was placed on the property on Thursday.
Glenn Haifer did not respond to a request for comment.
The Haifer family bought the 1935-built residence in 2012 for $13.5 million from yacht-race identity and former BRW rich lister George Snow and his wife Sabrina. It remains unknown if any agent was involved in the latest sale of the property.
The Heifer sale coincides with plans by Turnbull's other neighbours Ben and Tiffany Tilley to list their home for $25 million through Brad Pillinger, of Pillingers.
Point Piper's property values have recorded a spike of 89.9 per cent in the past 12 months to a $12 million median, according to Domain Data, thanks in part to Crichton's previous transactions and the $71 million national record set in April when the beachfront estate Elaine sold to tech billionaire Scott Farquhar.
Crichton's run of high-end deals was kicked off late last year when he agreed to sell his Point Piper mansion, Portofino, for $60.66 million to stock trader from China Andy Wenlei Song.
That deal settled in March by which time Crichton had already exchanged to buy another Point Piper waterfront house for $33 million from Karyn Zamel, the wife of mining engineer Gary Zamel.
Six months after he took the keys Crichton did an off-market deal to sell that Wolseley Road residence for more than $36 million to property investor Andrew Potter.
In May, Crichton married his fiancee Nadi Hasandedic.
Crichton's latest purchase will come as a surprise to some in the high-end eastern suburbs market given the couple were regulars on the local apartment hunting trail.
