Opal Tower penthouse resells for highest price paid since building evacuated for dangerous cracking
The Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park.
A four-bedroom penthouse atop the Opal Tower, which made headlines in 2018 when residents had to be evacuated due to dangerous cracking, has sold for $1.72m.
It was the seller’s third attempt to offload the Olympic Park apartment since 2018. The unit had been listed with a different agency back in May with a $2.2m-$2.4m guide before being pulled from the market.
The 231sqm unit spread across the 35th and 36th levels of the tower was this time listed with Ania Aquino of McGrath-Strathfield who managed to get a pre-auction offer above the $1.65m price guide.
Records indicated the seller bought the unit off the plan for $2.1m back in 2016. It was constructed in 2018.
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The penthouse sold for $1.72m.
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Despite the vendor’s loss, it’s the highest re-sale price in the building to date – by some measure. The previous highest price paid in the building after the 2018 cracking incident was $800,000.
Ms Aquino said overall feedback on the penthouse was positive but it was hard for many buyers to overlook the history of the building. The strata fees were $3100 per quarter.
“Everyone who saw it loved it. It was just one that would only appeal to a particular buyer given the reputation,” Ms Aquino said, adding that the unit sold with an extended builder warranty.
Ms Aquino said the buyer got good value. “If the same unit was in a different building it probably would have sold for over $2.5m,” she said.
Feedback on the unit itself was positive, Ms Aquino said.
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The Opal Tower is home to nearly 400 apartments and was completed in mid-2018. Residents reported hearing loud banging noises on Christmas Eve that year and were swiftly evacuated.
Remedial works were completed in 2020. A government report released in 2019 blamed the cracks on design and construction faults.
The report found that structural beams were not complaint and under-designed.
It’s understood that many of the units within the tower are now owned by the government.
Residents were evacuated on Christmas Eve in 2018. Picture: Tim Pascoe
Ms Aquino said the penthouse apartment offered “amazing” views and features but was a hard sell. “Buyers would leave impressed but then they had to assess if they were willing to take the risk, even though there was a warranty … in the end it was a good result.”