Podia’s Harbourside Penthouse Sets Price Record

A new Sydney price benchmark has been set in blue-ribbon Neutral Bay with an off-the-plan penthouse sold for $13 million.

The 200sq m home in the 20-apartment Wirra, Neutral Bay, project by Podia and Centennial, has three bedrooms, four bathrooms and space for three cars.

The sale is a record for an off-the-plan apartment sale on the North Shore and second only in the region to the sale for $13.75 million for a penthouse at St Leonards in 2021.

The apartment, which boasts harbour views, was bought by a Sydney-based couple looking to downsize, who were “drawn to the apartment’s spacious design and the suburb’s proximity to the city, harbour and local amenities”, according to Podia.

The sale was managed by Michelle Dong of Australian Property Group in partnership with Atlas. Dong said the sale underscored the growing demand for high-end living spaces with panoramic city and harbour views in the suburb. 

“This sale firmly positions Wirra, Neutral Bay, alongside similarly luxurious projects in Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs,” Dong said.

“Thirty per cent of the development has been sold off the plan, including the penthouse levels.”

Wirra is part of Podia’s pipeline of projects that includes luxury hotel-apartment development The Bonobo by Raes, in partnership with hotel and hospitality brand Raes in Byron Bay opposite Merivale’s hospitality redevelopment of the former Cheeky Monkey’s.

The under-construction development comprises 41 two, three and four-bedroom hotel-apartments and is due for completion in the next 12 months. 

Podia recently purchased a 16,000sq m mixed-use site at Salt Village, Kingscliff, to be redeveloped as a community-focused precinct with a variety of housing and accommodation options. 

The record price paid for an apartment in the Harbour City is also the highest price for any home in Australia—in 2019 a lavish penthouse at the top of the Tower 1 development in One Sydney Harbour, Barangaroo South, was sold for $140 million.

That property is the top three floors of the tower and includes, rooftop swimming pool, spa, gymnasium, and nine bedrooms.