Across Australia, there are a handful of unique or desirable apartment complexes that attract a stampede of buyers whenever a unit hits the market.
So popular are these special buildings – not your run of the mill high rise – that local real estate agents keep a long waitlist of people eager to become residents.
They might be architecture aficionados or history buffs, who want the lifestyle, grandeur, prestige or exclusivity that these iconic properties offer.
Here are three such complexes in Australia’s major capitals.
But be warned – you’ll need persistence, patience, and maybe a hefty bank balance to own one of these sky-high residences, with intense competition and fevered bidding typically accompanying new listings.
Like owning a classic car
Built between 1958 and 1960, Torbreck in Highgate Hill in Brisbane was the largest apartment tower in the Southern Hemisphere when it was completed and loomed large as Queensland’s tallest residential building until 1967.
For those reasons, its iconic status was always guaranteed.
Torbreck’s striking modernist design and spectacular views across Brisbane make it a special property. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
“Even today, when you’re coming into Brisbane from the Gold Coast, you can see it,” said Ray White South Brisbane agent Luke Croft.
“And that’s despite the fact the landscape around it has changed quite significantly. It’s a great old building – I love it.”
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The modernist Torbreck is made up of two separate towers and contains a total of 150 apartments, varying in size from modest studios, which start at around $300,000, to expansive penthouses, the most recent selling three years ago for $1.5 million.
Torbreck was Brisbane’s first residential high-rise and stood as Queensland’s tallest apartment building until 1967.
“It’s mid-century and a lot of people are attracted to that style of architecture,” said Mr Croft, who has been selling apartments there for 18 years.
“It was considered an ugly old building in the 1970s and 1980s when people didn’t appreciate it, but now it has a cult following and some well-known Brisbane architects live there.”
That cult-like status means there is high demand for Torbreck, which is 70% owner-occupied.
The complex consists of two buildings – the tower block and a garden block. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Mr Croft just sold a two-bedroom apartment there with interest over $699,000 after the first weekend of opens, when offers came straight away from some of the 20 groups who inspected it.
“It still had all the original hardwood cabinets, lino and laminate benchtops,” Mr Croft said.
“The buyer, a downsizer from a house, had been looking in the building for quite some time and plans to do a full reno.
“Owning an apartment in a building like that is like owning a classic car – they’re a bit more spacious and a bit more stylish.”
Many of the apartments have original fittings that reflect the building’s charm. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Tale of two cities
Two apartment towers designed by legendary architect Harry Seidler on prominent sites either side of sparkling Sydney Harbour define two distinct eras of the city’s brash, take-no-prisoners style.
The stark and modernist Blues Point Tower – an unmissable presence at the bottom of harbourside McMahons Point since its construction in 1962 – has failed to reach the cult status of its mid-century cousin in Brisbane.
But another of Mr Seidler’s creation, in the form of the sexy and curvaceous Horizon building, is recognised as one of Sydney’s residential icons.
The Horizon building in inner-city Sydney is an icon and in hot demand among buyers. Picture: Getty
Located in inner-city Darlinghurst, the 43-storey Horizon offers visitors travelling to the city’s ritzy eastern suburbs a glamorous welcome.
Constructed in 1998, it was designed as the “future of high-rise living” by Mr Seidler, who some 36 years earlier had a similar vision for Blues Point Tower as a blueprint solution to Sydney’s increasing suburban sprawl.
Horizon reeks of luxury, with its 25m heated lap pool, gardens, and tennis court adding to the sensational views from its higher levels.
Another of Harry Seidler’s creations, Blues Point Tower, isn’t as universally adored… Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
The building hit the headlines in late 2019 when a whole-floor penthouse apartment on level 40 was bought by the then 25-year-old media heiress, Francesca Packer-Barham – granddaughter of Kerry and niece to James – for a reported $16 million in a quintessential Sydney property deal.
Danışman Anthony Birdsall from Laing Real Estate in Elizabeth Bay has sold several apartments in Horizon, most recently a two-bedder on the 35th zemin $ XMUMX milyon için.
The view from the penthouse bought by Francesca Packer-Barham. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
The Seidler factor plays a big part in the building’s popularity, as well as its proximity to eating and entertainment zones in Potts Point and Surry Hills, Mr Birdsall said.
“People are attracted to the architecture and Seidler was very clever with the design,” he said.
“There’s a good mix of people living there, from empty nesters to professionals and even some families now.
“It’s an iconic building, and it has a fantastic reputation.
“You don’t have to do as much of a sales job because people have already heard about it. People love living there and that spreads the word.”
Apartments in Horizon are generously sized and boast a range of luxury features. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
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If Brisbane’s apartment building icon is about a reverential appreciation for heritage and Sydney’s is all look-at-me glamour, then it only makes sense that in Melbourne an understated elegance is the defining factor.
The Melburnian, situated on St Kilda Road in Southbank, opposite the Royal Botanic Gardens and close to the CBD, fits that description perfectly.
The Melburnian is a popular complex with a list of waiting would-be buyers. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Built in 2000, The Melburnian was one of the city’s first luxury, resort-style complexes, with three towers separated by a beautiful central garden, as well as a heated pool, steam room, massage room, gymnasium, shared office space, and round-the clock concierge service.
Such was its initial popularity that in 2001, a penthouse unit was sold for a then-record Melbourne apartment price of $5 million.
The Melburnian is now a haven for empty nesters from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, with a very high 85% owner-occupier rate.
Properties that come up for sale tend to sell quickly and often for over asking. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
“The downsizers have created a bit of a community there,” said agent Nicholas Hoo from Marshall White in Port Phillip.
“People coming from the east all want to live with their friends. But owners don’t want to sell. They want to live there fo
r as long as they can and that creates a scarcity.
“The most sought-after building is the garden tower – there hasn’t been a sale in there for quite some time.”
The finishes are chic and understated and the views are jaw-dropping. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Mr Hoo just sold a two-bedroom apartment in The Melburnian after a five-week expression of interest campaign with a guide price of $1.8 million to $1.98 million.
“It ended up selling for about $100,000 above the guide,” he said. “It still had its original fixtures and finishes but was still very stylish because everything was so high spec when it was first built.”
