Houses on Brighton’s Golden Mile sell for millions, but take away the house and buyers might be willing to pay even more. Retail mogul and co-founder of Catch Group Hezi Leibovich and his wife Lina bought a Brighton house five years ago for $19.75 million.
The same Glyndon Avenue address is now for sale asking $22 million to $24 million, but the house has been knocked down. Brighton’s median house price has of course risen over that time, up 26.1 per cent in the five years to June on Domain data.
But a submarket of well-heeled buyers with grand designs may place a high value on the unusual opportunity to purchase an empty block and build their dream home. The 2653-square-metre block five doors from Brighton Beach is listed through Forbes Global Properties’ Robert Fletcher, who declined to comment when contacted by this masthead. Public records list Hezi and Lina Leibovich as the property’s owners.
Hezi and his brother Gabby sold online retailer Catch Group to Wesfarmers in a $230 million deal in 2019. The Glyndon Avenue house no longer stands. Credit: The former house was offered for rent in March 2020 for $2750 per week, when it was marketed as an entertainer’s dream mansion set in sprawling gardens with five bedrooms and a study, four bathrooms, four living zones, a large Gaggenau kitchen and teppanyaki grill, games room with wet bar, grand stairway and a garden.
The listing also highlighted the conservatory, marble floors, swimming pool, spa, sauna, upstairs kitc.