This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A VACANT harbourside lot occupying one of the world’s most expensive real estate, which was once owned by one of the city’s most notorious murderers, developer Ron Medich, has sold for $27 million.
The 740sqm block on Wolseley Road in Sydney’s eastern suburb of Point Piper, sitting amongst some of the country’s most expensive homes, including the Edgewater mansion which sold in 2020 for $95 million, the second highest house sale price ever achieved in the country.
Tech investors Alexandra and Gabriel Jakob purchased the property from vendor Wu Li, son of the Chinese billionaire Li Guoqiang, founder of one of the country’s largest car dealers Zhongsheng Group.
While the property is currently overrun with weeds and rubble, it boasts uninterrupted views of the Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and the CBD skyline.
The site has had multiple owners in the last 10 years ahead of this latest sale, including Medich who acquired the site in 2003 and is currently serving time after being convicted of ordering the contract murder of Michael McGurk in 2009.
Less infamous owners of the asset have included Hugh Huang, who spent $14.35 million on the site in 2013 with plans for development before selling the land in 2017 for $22.5 million to yachtsman Jim Cooney.
A year on, vendor Wu Li spent roughly the same amount when buying the property from Cooney, making an approximately $5 million profit in the recent transaction.
Currently the property is occupied only by trees and rubble remaining from the demolished 1970s dwelling, which was cleared ahead of previous plans for development, with the property sitting untouched since.
