Crown close to A$80 million sale of Sydney penthouse: report

[WELLINGTON] Crown Resorts is close to selling a penthouse in its Sydney skyscraper for about A$80 million (S$67 million), some A$20 million less than initially hoped for, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported.

A local buyer, using a structured deal, is said to be about to secure the six-bedroom apartment on the 81st floor of the 271-metre-tall One Barangaroo tower, the AFR said, citing unidentified industry sources.

The 800-square-metre (8,600-square-foot) duplex had been on the market since at least 2021 when the tower was completed. Conceived in an age when Chinese cash flooded the globe, elevating asset prices from Sydney to London, the property’s target market has all but disappeared.

With a sale proving elusive, last year the asking price was cut by 10 per cent to A$90 million and TV personality Monika Tu was named as selling agent alongside Knight Frank. A few months later, it was relaunched and The Agency and Colliers International Group were hired to push the sale.

Crown, The Agency and Colliers were not immediately available to comment.

The complex was a pet project of billionaire James Packer before the uncovering of wrongdoing at Crown’s casinos in Melbourne and Perth prompted him to sell his stake in the company. BLOOMBERG