A century-old beach shack with ties to World War II and a former premier is being demolished to make way for apartments after selling for more than $11m.
The modest two-bedroom house overlooking the ocean in the sleepy suburb of Moffat Beach on the Sunshine Coast changed hands for a price that would have been unimaginable when it was first built in the 1920s, with a bullzdozer moving in on the historic home yesterday.
This beach shack has sold for more than $11m to make way for an apartment block.
Ray White Caloundra Elite principal Andrew Garland negotiated the off-market sale to a Brisbane buyer who plans to build nine units on the site — all for private use.
Mr Garland, who has been selling in Caloundra for 21 years, admitted it was an “extremely” rare transaction.
“If you can afford it, why not?” he said. “They have the opportunity to leave a legacy.”
Perched on an 814sqm headland site at 11 McIlwraith Street, the property is believed to be the first house ever constructed on Moffat headland.
Its story dates back more than a century, when building materials were reportedly floated ashore by boat before being hauled up the steep headland by bullocks.
This century-old house is being demolished to make way for apartments.
Mr Garland said the home occupied a unique place in local history, and there was “some sadness” in the community, but unlike Brisbane, there were no demolition restrictions on pre-war homes on the Sunshine Coast.
“The timbers were floated off a boat at Moffat Beach and pulled up the hill by bullock,” the original owner said in an email. “It housed American troops during World War II.”
The property was once owned by the estate of former Queensland premier Ned Hanlon before being sold at auction in 1963.
The site overlooks an amazing ocean view.
While records of that sale price are unavailable, Mr Garland said the developer family who bought the home would have paid only a fraction of its current value.
More than 60 years later, the property has become one of the Sunshine Coast’s most remarkable real estate transactions.
The home had been owned by a brother and sister who inherited the property and held it for years before making the difficult decision to sell.
A beach shack fronting the ocean on this headland has sold for more than $11m.
The ageing home will be replaced with a four-storey, nine-apartment development designed for extended family use.
The site is zoned medium-density residential and has a 12-metre height limit.
The sale underscores the extraordinary transformation of Australia’s beachfront property market, where modest holiday shacks once bought for little more than a year’s wage are now commanding eight-figure sums purely for the land beneath them.
“I’m more frequently getting calls from people with $10m to spend,” Mr Garland said.
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