This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CONSTRUCTION boss Vin Sammartino has nabbed the penthouse of a luxury Camberwell apartment development that his own company is building, in one of three sales totalling $30 million that have set new records for off-the-plan transactions in Boroondara.
Each of the deals at Time & Place’s Victoria Hill project tops the previous record for the inner east Melbourne council area, which was the penthouse at Rondure House in Kew for almost $6.5 million in 2020.
Sammartino is director of business development at Hacer Group, which is delivering Victoria Hill, and was part of the syndicate that owned 2016 Melbourne Cup winner Almandin. He and his wife Leigh Ferrier will have the keys for the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom penthouse with a five-car garage, infinity pool, and city views.
Time & Place partnered up with Sammartino and Hacer in October of 2021 to acquire the 166 Victoria Road site, on the corner of Burke Road, for $25 million with an eye to the downsizer market.
Victoria Hill will offer 25 homes, designed by architects and Cera Stribley, with interiors by Hecker Guthrie. Residents can move in from August 2024.
Residences boast an average indoor space of 250 sqm and outdoor space of 100 sqm. Amenities at the building will include a boardroom, gym, digital concierge, private lock-up garages, bike storage, parcel delivery, dog wash and plant watering.
“In conceptualising Victoria Hill, we sought to address the gap in the luxury residential market for those Boroondara locals wanting to downsize and stay with the community they’ve spent so much of their lives shaping,” said sales director at Time & Place, James Herbert, adding that until now, “there hasn’t been a collection of residences offered to the market that can match the premium lifestyle experience that the downsizer market of this particular locale expects”.
“Camberwell is arguably the most premier and coveted suburb within Boroondara; you only have to look to the exceptional private schools, stately mansions and 150-year-old tree-lined boulevards.”
He said purchasers at Victoria Hill had resonated with the proportions of the residence, amenity offerings and digital concierge, and the added security of the lockable garages and private lift-access entry.
Time & Place founder and director, Tim Price, said, “As a long-term local resident in Boroondara I have witnesses first-hand the absence of developments that compare to a lifestyle that a traditional Camberwell family home affords.
“Residents in Boroondara are hesitant to leave the neighbourhood that holds so many memories for their family, but the reality is the large format homes and gardens become more time intensive to look after and maintain as they become empty nester.
“Victoria Hill was crafted with these residents in mind, offering all the benefits of a significant family home, with large-format terraces, breathtaking views, impeccable architectural and interior design quality and of course, privacy.”
Price has just picked up a development site near Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance for about $15 million. Price bought 19-23 Dorcas Street through his Middleton Lane Land Company. The 896 sqm site, which includes a row of three houses used as offices, is next door to Time & Place and V-Leader’s proposed $160 million Middleton Lane project at 11-17 Dorcas Street.
